Night Watch Changeling Part 3
by Gothmayden
Summary: Part 3 of the Changeling trilogy, told in 1st and 3rd person, and the dramatic events that followed from pt1 and pt2. Please note this story has spoilers for the first 4 books and does not follow the film plots. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Blackness.

And then there was light.

Opposite states. A factotum to add. There was sound...shouting? How did I know this? Another datum. A higher pitched noise, repeating the same soundbyte, over and over.

Movement. More information to add to the growing pile. I could feel a heart beating, sensations through my fingers? Legs? How did I know these things.?

More data, more facts to add to mind.

Mind? Did I have a mind? I had a...heart...so I was a living thing, but processing data, storing sensations, facts, incidences, felt normal to. Was I a machine then?

The growing pain signals in my body negated that thought. So, living then. More factors added.

The noise began to form meaning, words, but they were still chaotic, jumbled up, many sounds...loud ...at once.

Visual input was required. I opened my eyes, noting that I had eyes. I saw...a face...eyes, nose, mouth, hair. The eyes were wet, more data. Some of the wet dripped onto me. It was from this face the repeated sounds were being emitted; Directed towards me. I was the subject of the sound, it meant me.

Somewhere inside the accumulated information a bubble formed, the first data retrieval. Its a name, the sound is a name, my name. I closed my eyes again. Visual input had been little help.

The face is quiet now, wet...rain?...seems to fall from its eyes. There was more movement around me, I felt myself being lifted from some hard surface onto a softer one. My mind noted this down. There were deeper sounds, not from the raining face. Different faces must be here then.

Soft probes were pressed into me all over, some hurt, most did not. I added the data to the increasingly confusing pile. My eyelids were held open. A small light was shone in, first one then the other. More sounds. I could see their...mouths...moving but I still couldn't make any sense of the noises.

Something was pressed to my...lips...it was wet, like the raining face. Some entered my mouth, so I had one of those to, more facts, more data. My mouth filled up with the wet, some trickled down my...throat?...and I spasmed, it made a sound, I could make sounds to. I spasmed again, another bubble formed in my mind. 'Swallow, you are choking'. My throat jerked involuntarily and the wet slid down; No more spasms.

The sounds had been shouting, but they were less now. Voices, The sounds were voices. Info filed.

I felt my upper half being raised up, something wet and...cool...was placed above my eyes, then moved around my face. It was...pleasant...it created more sensations, more info.

Something soft touched me, something familiar. Small, and yet whatever it was, it felt like it was encasing me, enfolding me with a luxurious warming comfort, easing the aching sensations, calming the turmoil forming in my mind.

A voice spoke from inside me, in my subconscious. "Welcome home Daddy."

Suddenly the warmth burned, fire flowed through my very being; through coalesced feelings, sights, sounds, smells, memories, all forged into place in the heat.

'Its a reboot' I thought, and almost laughed at that. 'I'm starting anew.'

But now I knew where I was, I remembered everything. But it was different, I couldn't tell how yet, but I knew. All the fear, all the revulsion, gone. All the hopes, all the joy, gone. I was once again a blank canvas, left only with the memories of what had gone before. A rebirth with a lifetime of knowledge attached. I opened my eyes again, and looked around me. I knew everyone I saw in the room and yet I was seeing them for the first time. But I was not just seeing them. It dawned on me very quickly that I was seeing these people in triplicate, what was, what is, and what will be, all overlaid in a hazy glow, shimmering between states. I tried to focus on the nearest figure to me, a small one, and realised that this one wasn't in flux, this one shone brightly like a beacon, steady and strong. Shone for me.

After a few moments steadying my coordination, I tentatively reach out an arm. "Nadya" I tried to say, but no sound came out. It didn't matter, she heard me in her mind and hugged me tighter.

The one called Sveta repeated my name again. I looked at her, she was the one with the wet face, the tears, that had fallen on me. My mind told me I should have an emotion fixated on her, but they were still lost somewhere inside. Only Nadya seemed to receive one of those from me at the moment. I didn't worry, somehow I knew they would come eventually. So I remained silent, watching her fluctuate between realities. It was fascinating, watching who she was, and who she would become. It was also a little disconcerting. Was it a form of future prediction? No, all I could see was the possibility of what she would be, and yet I still didn't know how I knew this. I tried to think about it, where I knew it from, but my head exploded in pain. I must have groaned a little because Sveta was holding me a moment later.

The one I knew as Boris/Gesar spoke. "Welcome back Anton" he said. I nodded once, but still said nothing, I didn't know if I could yet. The pain in my head eased slowly, the fog clogging my thoughts began to clear; I sat up, surveying the room. Suddenly my head snapped around and I stared at the creature called Zabulon. The look on my face must have been misinterpreted.

"Don't worry Anton, he's secure, he cant hurt you, I wont let him." Sveta scowled. Gesar gestured something. Sveta's scowl deepened, but she nodded.

She didn't see what I saw. I wasn't looking at the festering demon in front of me, or the strange, cloud-like entity I saw far in his future, but the past. I saw his past. And there was two of him, double? A twin? No, only one, so why the double image?

Glancing at the rest in the room, none had this doubling...so why him?

A glass was pressed to my lips, and I drank deeply, almost gagging on the fiery liquid inside, Gesar's best brandy. I let it work its way down into my stomach, the fire from it replacing the heat fading from my core. Then it truly dawned on me, I was back, I made it, but made it to what?...

* * *

While they were distracted she took her chance, just staying long enough to make sure the one watched, lived. Flinging an undirected portal before her she jumped through, anything to get away!

Her landing was rough, the exit was a few feet above the ground, a lot of feet. She landed awkwardly and twisted her right ankle. No matter, it would mend. Standing up she looked around her. Middle of nowhere. Again, no matter. He said it would be worth it, all the...nasty...things she had to do, had to endure, had to say, so the Dark one would have her. And it was worth it, if she could get back, report what she had seen. What she had witnessed. He said it was going something important, what precisely He didn't say.

She shuddered, it was raining, the fine drizzle oozing its way rapidly through her thin clothes. Concentrating hard, she visualised the rendezvous point. Whispering incoherent words she opened a second portal and slipped through, with nothing to show her passing but small footprints in the ground, slowly washing away...

* * *

Anton lay on Gesar's daybed, Nadya still had her arms around him. Sveta sponged his forehead with a damp cloth, her face damp from tears, but smiling. Gesar was grimly looking through the videoed record of what had happened on the small monitor on his desk. He watched when the girl teleported away, glimpsing leaves and vegetation at a strange angle. No real clues there.

Ilya was sipping some of Gesar's brandy, seemingly lost in though. Only Ignat wasn't preoccupied.

He watched Zabulon from the corner of his eye unobtrusively.

The Dark leader seemed deflated, all fight gone from him. He was sat, almost curled, on the floor. He was no longer held by the restraining spell, he could have wreaked havoc if he so wish. All desire to seemed to have gone. So he sat, almost quiescent. Ignat didn't trust him for a moment.

Zabulon was seething, the disinterested, defeated exterior was taking all his concentration and will to project. Sveta had dropped the shielding, at Gesar's urging. The desire to leap up and smash her to a pulp was almost unbearable, lacking magic didn't lessen his physical strength, and he could have delivered a killing blow before she could counter, distracted as she was by that...thing...on the bed. But he was more controlled than that. Self control was the key now, let them think him defeated. But Zabulon knew where that girl had gone. His powers might be weak but his mind wasn't. He was present at the 'turning' sessions, the torture needed to convert her ready for the Dark initiation. He remembered the gibberish ripped from her lips as they peeled the skin from her inner thighs, from her breasts, all the sensitive areas that would provoke the right responses, the sadistic stimuli needed to change her nature.

Zabulon almost laughed at the sudden arousal he felt, but his self control was better than that. He remembered in that gibberish a garbled name, and what sounded like a homing formula...she was trying to escape back to some place she held sacred even under the flailers knives. As soon as he was away from these idiots he was going to try to recreated it, with the help of some of the other 'converts'...only dispensable ones however, this was not going to be common knowledge. He saw Ignat furtively watching him. He gave a wan smile, howling with laughter inside at his acting skills, almost creating an Oscar award speech for amusement, which fuelled his mirth even more.

Ignat saw the smile, on anyone else it would have seem pathetic, but it didn't match Zabulon's eyes, behind them the fire still burned. He couldn't understand why the rest in the room couldn't see it, then realised they never would, it was a demon thing.

Ignat managed to force a smile back, hiding his thoughts as deeply as he could. This Dark demon could read your soul from as little as a twitch in the corner of an eye.

Zabulon saw Ignat's restraint, knew of his suspicions. So be it, the succubus was of no concern, his rapid ageing saw to that. A tremor ran through Zabulon's body, momentarily startling him, his own physical condition was becoming of some concern to. Damn the Inquisitor!

Ignat saw the tremor. Looking Zabulon directly into the fiery eyes he slowly nodded once and smiled again, this time a full, deep grin. Full acknowledgement of the situation hit Zabulon like a cold wave. How could he get back to try the formula, his transport was gone. It would mean involving others, ones who would see him weakened, ones who could take advantage of his situation, pull him down, snatch power from him, and he would be unable to stop them. For the first time, he needed help from the Light ones. The thought stuck in his throat like bile. This was why Gesar had Sveta drop the shielding. He couldn't escape, there was no where to run. He began to moan, a soft, keening sound.

Startled, Sveta looked up from Anton. She stared at Zabulon, then turned to Gesar. "What...?"

"Its alright Sveta, our guest here has just realised his situation." Gesar's face remained grim, but his eyes sparkled. "Is that not so, my old demon friend?"

"I am not your friend!" Zabulon growled, leaping from the floor. Before he had moved a few feet, Sveta had him locked down in a shield again, hovering him a few inches in the air. He didn't fight it, it was useless, he knew he was currently beaten. It was a bitter taste, something he had never know before.

Anton watched silently. He looked at Nadya, who nodded to him and let him go. Swinging his legs slowly from the day bed he stood up. Sveta turned to say something but Gesar motion her to be silent. Silently Anton staggered over to Zabulon. Reaching up he pressed his hand to the shield, it past straight through, and touched Zabulon on the chest. A silvery glow began to emit from Anton's fingers. Zabulon looked down and watched, frozen, his face a mask of pure fear.

"I'm sorry" Anton whispered horsely. The silver light engulfed Zabulon, the air began to crackle, a strong ozone smell wafted across the room. Suddenly there was a grey flash, and Zabulon was gone, the shield guarding just empty air. Anton slid to his knees, the effort clearly drained him.

"What did you do Anton!" barked Gesar..."What have you done to him? Have you killed him...answer me!"

"I...sent him...home..." Anton croaked, before passing out again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Gesar put down the receiver. "Where did you send him Anton. I've just checked, he hasn't arrived back at the Dark HQ. Or anywhere...they have searchers out for him now."

"I sent..him home...it was in his mind, he wanted to go home. I just...I had to do ...something compelled me to. He was...in pain...inside..."

"After what he's done to you, you still wanted to 'help' him?"

"I don't know if it ...helps... him at all...he had to go...I saw..." Anton's speech was hesitant, broken, as if trying to find forgotten words. He stopped, shaking his head. "I saw things...something, in his past..."

Gesar visibly stiffened. The office was empty apart from themselves, Sveta had taken a reluctant Nadya home, Ilya and Ignat were in the communications department trying to fend off questions. Anton's arrival couldn't be kept secret, but it was best all information went to the right places so that plans could be made, and rumours kept to a minimum...and the panic.

Sveta had been torn between staying for Anton, or leaving with Nadya to protect her from what Anton had become. Gesar had persuaded her to go, stating that Anton was still Anton, he fundamentally hadn't changed. Now Gesar was beginning to wonder if he had been a little hasty.

With Lorah's cryptic words etched into his soul, Gesar asked "What is it you see Anton..."

"I see... I can see you, but it isn't just you. There are ...three of you, shifting, in...flux...all making a whole but each part...a separate entity. I can see you, here, now, as a main...life... but behind you I can see you as...you use to be...no more than a boy...your smiling...something you don't do enough of these days... Then in front of you I see...you...but an older you ... like a great bear, but your eyes...are...sad...they have seen many lifetimes...many..." Anton's voice trailed off into nothingness, his expression became bland and unreadable.

Gesar gazed out of the window behind his desk. His mind raced at Anton's words. "And you saw Zabulon's past..." He didn't continue. He already knew what Anton had seen, but hadn't understood.

Anton just remained blank faced. "He wanted to go home, to...do things differently..."

Gesar turned back to his desk and pressed the intercom button. "I need a communiqué to the Dark offices, and a second to the Inquisition...we need to talk...now." He didn't wait for a reply, releasing the button as soon as his order was out.

"What...what did I see?" Anton asked. "And why did he want to go back so...badly?"

"It is from my past to, when we were young, no more than youths, and..."

"..but I thought Zabulon was older than you?"

"He is, by two years, but I became an Other before him, just..." Gesar sighed and sat down. "Anton, if you were not what you presently are, I would never tell you this, but there cannot be any secrets now, not if we are all to survive this." Anton began to object but Gesar raised his hand. "No Anton you don't understand, but you must be made to. There are other people out there who would wish to go back, to do things differently, can you imagine what it would be like if they all did?"

Anton shook his head slowly at first, but then stopped and nodded.

"Very well, I will keep this story as short as possible..."

* * *

Limbo probably felt like this. An all-encompassing nothingness, bereft of all sensation, all thought, just a vague awareness of being. Zabulon tried to focus, to grasp...anything. But he continued to float, like an ancient sailing ship caught in the doldrums, no wind to billow its limp sails.

Then he realised he was drifting, a minute indication of direction. Concentrating he turned his head towards the motion. As he did so the impression of movement increased, speeded up, rapidly became a rushing. He felt himself being flung through the nothingness at impossible speeds. It was exhilarating!

Suddenly the motion slowed, his limbs felt like he was passing through a vat of thick, hot molasses.

Then he stopped...and opened his eyes.

He was in a room. Outside dawn was just breaking, the meagre light beginning to filter through the shuttered window, giving grey shadows to indistinguishable forms. He moved his head, the strange sensation was gone. He was lying on a hard bed, a straw stuffed pad on wooden slats, thicker at the pillow end. There was a sweet, fresh hay smell emanating from it. He was covered with a rough, Hessian-type blanket, serviceable, but not ideal, its scratchy surface rasping against his skin.

Skin?

Zabulon threw back the cover. He was naked except for a sewn beechclout, joined at the sides like a pair of shorts, his skin had a bluish tinge in the dawn light. Skin... not a scale in sight.

Zabulon leapt up and threw open the shutters. Cool air bathed his face from the glassless opening. He turned, staring around the small room with the added light from the window. The ceiling sloped to the floor at one side, indicating he was in some sort of attic room. Apart from the hard cot bed there was a wooden box, upended with a candle stood on it, and a second box with a few indiscernible items in it. There was a small pile of clothes at the foot of the bed, but little else in the room. The floor and walls were bare, the wattle and daub construction clearly apparent. The only other thing was an opening in the floor, with a ladder poking through it, indicating he was in a loft rather than an attic.

The cold dread of a long forgotten memory began to demand his attention. Somewhere deep inside he knew this place, he recognised this interior.

And yet he knew it couldn't exist, not any more. Someone was playing sick mind games with him, but, whatever they were trying to achieve, it wasn't about to work!

In a cold fury he lifted the box with the oddments in and threw it out of the window. No! It wasn't going to work! Stamping around the room he had just grabbed the second box when a voice drifted up through the opening in the floor. He froze. That voice, it couldn't be!

"Zakhar! I said what are you doing!"

"N..N..Nothing..." it came out, he couldn't stop it.

"It sounds like nothing. Now stop it and come for breakfast, there is a lot to do today."

"Yes...alright."

Zabulon snatched the clothes from the bed, they fitted, he knew they would, and gazed out of the window, down at the smashed wooden box below. An uncontrollable fit of shaking ran through his body. This was how it had all started, with a broken box. He turned his thoughts inward and saw himself, his young self, screaming in fear in the darkness of his mind, trying to escape from what he saw. Zabulon tried to calm his young self, eventually giving control of his body back to himself/Zakhar. The chores of the day were of no interest to the Dark one, and he needed time to contemplate, to plan. He now knew exactly where, and when, he was. That fool Anton had given him a chance to change, a chance to do it all again. This time he wasn't going to waste it...

* * *

"I was travelling with a mobile healer. He was a Light one, not a particularly good healer, but enough to keep bread on the table. He had come across me and my family a few years before. He must have seen my Other potential as he offered my mother to take me as an apprentice. Rare in those troubled times, and my mother jumped at the chance. One less mouth to feed I suppose, and I wasn't unwilling. There was something about the old man I liked, I didn't know what. He said his name was Starik, I called him Grampa most of the time, he just called me 'boy'.

Gesar cleared his throat. "He initiated me on my 14th birthday. But I think I did him a great deal of hurt. I don't think he realised how strong I would be. As you know, a weaker initiating a stronger can be deadly for the initiator. He was lucky, I was still young and many years away from full power. Even so, I had to take on some of his duties for a while, allowing time for him to heal himself. And he was genuinely old, not an outward glam, he was very late entering the Twilight for the first time. Almost killed him then, and almost killed him taking me through."

"So I took on his duties, driving the cart, handing out placebo medicines while secretly healing ailments. Grampa told me to never cure someone outright, just help them on there way, or we would have been burnt as evil magicians. Funny that, cure someone who's dying and 'die' yourself...that's the way of those times though. Psychiatry, Head doctoring, as he called it, he was good at. He would be, being able to see what ailed a mind using the Twilight. He got quite a good reputation for that..."

"We travelled that way a year more, I think Grampa liked the extra help, he would only be classed about a level 5 or 6 these days and combined with his age, the healing was a strain on his own. Then we came to a village I hadn't been to before..."

* * *

"Pyotr! Where is that lazy son of yours?" The barman handed over a large stein of beer. It was picked up by a huge hulk of a man, hands the size of dinner plates. He chugged the beer down in one go, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, before replying.

"He's out with Yegor's youngest. Trying to make babies no doubt."

The barman roared with laughter. "Not with that one, she would kill him if she so much as caught a glimpse of something she shouldn't."

"That's one I wouldn't mind having myself!" A voice called across the room, creating another wave of laughter.

"No, its true, she's a match for him, him and that temper of his." Pyotr waved the empty stein at the barman, who nodded and refilled it.

"You still having problems with him?"

"Aye. Some of the things he says, shouldn't be coming out of one his age...its in his eyes..."

"Oh?" The barman leaned closer. "What's in his eyes?"

"One minute the lads fine then, his eyes, they seem to change, and he goes all weird-like. Pretends there's nothing wrong, that he's exactly the same, anyone who didn't know him wouldn't see it, but I do, and then the temper afterwards. Flies into a frightening rage at times, so he does. Pity his mother wasn't still around to sort him out. A good cuffing does nothing either, he just looks at me, all weird-like."

Pyotr's flagon was refilled, the barman wasn't going to miss this opportunity for some gossip, and Pyotr was well lubricated now, the ale was talking. He knew the great dullard of a man couldn't afford to pay him, he hadn't worked a day for the past 20 years, living off what his late wife, and now his boy, made, but somehow today it didn't matter. Pyotr rarely spoke, it was a momentous day in its own right.

"Yeah, talks to himself as well..." someone else said. "I've heard him. He almost walked into me the other day, seemed to be having a conversation with himself, strange thing was when he answered himself, it was like a different voice came out of him..."

"Yes, weird like that, like two people in one body."

The barman made the warding sign. "Preserve us all, he's possessed by a demon!" Low murmurs of agreement answered him.

"No, no...not a demon, he's naught but himself.." Pyotr answered "..there just seems to be...too much of him..."

"What he needs is a good screwing, then there would be a bit less of him to worry about!" The voice triggered gales of laughter, and another round of drinks. "Never mind...she'll sort him out good and proper!..."

* * *

"No Zakhar!" Olyusha dragged his hand away from under her skirt. "I told you, wedding before bedding!"

"But please! Olyusha! Wait!" Zakhar pleaded, but she was already walking away back up the hill. He followed, the discomfort in his pants not making the accent any easier. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a chuckle, enjoying his pain, he dismissed it. There had been a lot of thoughts like that lately, they were not nice.

"Father says you have to wait another year.." she called back to him. "When I am 16 we may wed."

"How will I know what I'm wedding is worth it?" he shouted back in frustration.

"Zakhar!"

"Sorry, sorry..." The discomfort wasn't going away, he seriously contemplated sneaking away and masturbating, there was no way he could force her, she was a strong girl and he never seemed to gain any muscles no matter how hard his father worked him. He was shocked at the thought of rape, the chuckling in the back of his mind became a roar of laughter. He ignored it.

Following her up the hill finally took the edge off his ardour. He caught up with her as she was gazing down on the village spread out below. Beyond the countryside spread out, fields of gold and green, beyond that, far in the distance, a line of mountains, grey and white against the blue sky.

"Its a beautiful place." She said.

"How would you know, you've never been anywhere else." The scorn was clear in Zakhar's voice.

She ignored him. "I wonder if there is anywhere else, beyond the mountains I mean."

"Father says there is, miles and miles of the world. He claims he's seen it, but I don't believe it, I don't think he's ever seen beyond the bottom of his beer mug."

"I wonder if we will one day..."

The laugh in Zakhar's head turned to a snarl and he felt himself pushed to one side. It's voice said, using his mouth, "We can both rule it all one day my queen."

Olyusha turned to look at him. "I wasn't speaking to you, I was speaking to Zakhar."

Zabulon reeled inside the boys head. She wasn't suppose to know I'm here! He fled back, allowing the boy to return.

"How long have you known?" Zakhar said.

"I saw the other you, inside you. Father said people can be split, inside sometimes, and speak as two."

"You didn't tell him about me did you!"

"No, but he guessed. That's why I cannot marry you yet."

"But..."

"There is a healer coming, father sent for him, it is said he can work wonders with ailments of the mind."

"I'm not sick!"

Olyusha brushed his cheeks. "I know that, my sweet, it is to please father. You are who you are, but the quicker he is appeased, the quicker we can share the bedchamber." She smiled, and Zakhar's discomfort returned tenfold.

"When will he arrived?" His voice was husky and cracking as his mouth became very dry.

"On the morrow..." and she opened her dress revealing her ample bosom.

Zakhar gasped and ejaculated into his pants. Zabulon howled with laughter, and sweet thoughts of revenge.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Gesar paced around the desk as he spoke. "We arrived early that morning, the sun wasn't even fully up. Grampa knocked at the door of the inn, it opened before he'd made the second tap..."

* * *

"Hurry up boy!" Grampa cussed something else under his breath, while Boris dragged the heavy trunk up the stairs of the inn to their room, a meagre affair, but all the barman would offer them. No doubt he would charge for a full price room to their employer, usual practice when on a job. No matter, a room was a room. Boris struggled to turn the corner at the top of the stairs, the trunk threatening to tip over and drag him back down. Grampa didn't offer to help, he was deeply preoccupied. The brief conversation he had with the man who had opened the door had visibly disturbed him, but Boris had heard none of what had been said.

Dropping the trunk to the floor, Boris wiped his forehead with his sleeve and glanced out of the open window. The old man was muttering to himself and fishing through the papers in the trunk, piling them up on the floor before scattering them with more thrown on top.

"Grampa...?" Boris began, then stopped when the old man looked at him.

"Before you ask.." he said "..that was Yegor, our employer." He went back to shifting through his papers and muttering. Boris knew he wouldn't get any more from him yet. He went back to gazing out of the window.

People were beginning to appear, the bustle of the day raising a faint dust he could smell, mingling with the scents of food and cattle and wares. It was Market day, three days really, people were arriving from all the outlying regions eager to buy, even more eager to sell, all eager to gossip and exchange news. Boris found it boring. He had seen numerous market days that past year, it was the bread and butter of a trade like theirs. They were all the same. Only the gossip was different, since becoming an Other that didn't interest him any more either. It was days like this he would lament their passing when older, but for now they were boring, a boys way to hide the feeling of something forever lost to him.

As the crowds built up (crowds then, Gesar explained, no more than a hundred people seemed a huge throng in those days) something caught his eye, a distinctive shimmering in the air. Boris turned and beckoned his mentor over. The old man looked out of the window, it took him longer to notice what had caught the boys eye, but when he did he nodded.

"I think that is the reason we are here."

Moving through the crowd was a youth with a goat on a lead, heading for the livestock pens. The shimmering followed him. It was indistinct, not like the slow wavering over Grampa, or the fast flicker Boris had seen over himself when looking at his reflection in a pool of water. It was clearly there though, fading in and out. Suddenly a girl ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek. The surprise almost made the youth dropped the lead on the goat, who at that precise moment, decided to tug hard. The boy went sprawling on the ground. The people around him began to laugh, and the youth jumped up and began to roar loudly in anger, only calming when the girl put her hand on his arm.

Boris blinked. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Grampa was watching him, he blushed and looked away, but not without glimpsing something out of the corner of his eye first.

"That is Olyusha, Yegor's youngest child, and the betrothed of our latest assignment." He raised his eyebrows. "So no jeopardising our pay with your indiscretions, eh?"

"I wasn't...!" but Boris knew perfectly well that Grampa knew exactly what he had been thinking. He was surprised though, that the old man hadn't noticed what he had seen.

A second, very faint shimmer over her head to...

* * *

"Zakhar...no..." Olyusha stroked his arm. Zakhar felt the rage dissipate almost instantly, the voice in his head carried on howling. He ignored it.

"I'm sorry." he murmured, to no one in particular. It had become a regular thing, apologising, it didn't even have any meaning to him any more, but people expected it. Some around him grunted, others ignored him, one or to still snickered, hands clasped to their mouths. It was easier before the voice became so recently strong, now it questioned him every time.

Olyusha retrieved the goats lead from the ground and pressed it back into his hand. As she did so she glanced towards the inn, and saw a figure watching her from the top window. A strange chill went down her spine; It was not wholly unpleasant. She smiled at Zakhar, then turned a fraction, allowing it to been seen from the upper window.

Boris leaped back as though he had been stung. She had smiled at him, but how could she even see him there? He looked round quickly but Grampa was back in his papers, completely ignoring him again. He looked back out but she was gone, along with the strange youth. Boris had a feeling that Market day had suddenly become interesting again...

* * *

"We spent the day dishing out our herbs and potions, mixed in with the occasional 'real' cure. I had originally thought we would be seeing the client afterwards, then on our way, but it quickly became clear that whatever had been said to Grampa that morning would involve a longer stay. I cant say that I minded, I was intrigued by the girl with the smile..."

* * *

Zabulon chuckled at Zakhars outburst, but was slightly puzzled, it hadn't been himself that had raged, although he felt inclined to do so at these idiotic peasants. No, it was something else had triggered it. Zabulon decided to explore Zakhars mind, to 'reacquaint' himself with it, so to speak.

He drifted.

It didn't take long for him to find an area he hadn't noticed before. Deep within, a blackness, silent, brooding. For a moment even he recoiled, stopped, then entered deeper. Here it was then, the other side of Zakhar/Zabulon. He had never seen it this way before, and felt foolish for forgetting. This was his "other" self, the one with the rage, the hatred, the uncontrollable urges. Zabulon realised that Olyusha hadn't been talking to him after all, on the hill, she had been addressing this darker place, this other Zakhar.

Zabulon found the thought strangely reassuring. Good, his presence was still a secret then.

The blackness watched Zabulon, he thought if it had actual eyes he would feel the gaze boring into his skin. It was a creepy feeling even for him. He turned and snarled at it, receiving silence as an answer eyes forever watching, brooding. Zabulon had to master this side of Zakhar if his plan were to work.

It didn't stand a chance, Zabulons millennial experience of Darkness encapsulated it. He fed on its energy, suckled at its corpuscular breast. He felt almost high, soaring on the power seeping into him, but he had to be careful. This was as much a part of Zakhar/Zabulons lifeforce as the lighter side and, reluctantly, like an unsatiated vampire, he let the energy go. It crept away like a wounded cur, to brood silently in its own misery. He laughed, stretching his will across Zakhars minds, then stopped. He saw, through Zakhars eyes, Olyusha staring at him.

Damn it, the bitch was sharp.

Zabulon retreated slowly, blending as best as he could into the background. Even removing some of the blackness inside didn't leave enough room for him though, pieces still didn't fit right...And he knew she could, or soon would, see him. Frantically Zabulon formulated a plan. He had to meld with Zakhar totally, it was the only way he had a chance to control what happens later, to change his history. Fading as far into the background as he could, Zabulon waited.

"Zakhar? Are you alright?" Olyusha frowned, as he staggered slightly.

"Yes, yes fine, I just felt a little faint for a second " he replied, shaking his head.

Olyusha remained silent, just nodding once. "Come, there is work to do."

The goat sold quickly, more due to Olyusha's smile than Zakhars negotiations, and the small bag of coins was tucked tightly into his belt. They hugged briefly and parted, Zakhar heading towards his home. Olyusha stayed, wandering around the various stalls, looking at ribbons and trinkets, her eyes constantly straying to the high window at the inn. She felt compelled to look, and didn't know why.

Boris saw her, he glanced over his shoulder but Grampa was still busy. Silently he exited the room and almost fell down the stairs in his haste to go outside. Trying to look inconspicuous, he strolled over to the doorway of the crowded inn, no one paid him any attention, they were all deep in conversations, or mugs of beer. Standing in what he thought was a nonchalant pose he pretended not to see her, his heart racing.

Olyusha saw him from the corner of her eye. Turning round she began to stride directly towards him. Boris gulped and tried not to notice her, until she stopped just a few feet away.

"Hello" she said, "..I saw you at the window, watching me and Zakhar. Your the healers boy aren't you?"

Boris' heart sank... she called him a boy. "I travel with him, yes, but I'm not his 'boy'."

"Its what he called you, I heard."

"You have very good hearing then."

"You have very bad curiosity, to be gawking out of the window like that."

They were both silent a moment, then burst out laughing. After a while, when the laughing subsided, she looked at him with a serious expression.

"I have heard your master is good at what he does."

"He is the best."

"Yes, I expected you to say that. All I want to know is, can he do anything for my Zakhar?"

Boris had to repress an urge to hold her hands. "If anyone can, he can, or will at least try."

"So, what will he do then?"

He knew a glib explanation that Grampa normally gave the gullible masses wouldn't suffice. This girl was beyond perceptive, and the faint shimmer over her, clearer now, meant far more. She needed to know, and be prepared herself.

"Care to walk with me a while, I will try to explain, but it will all seem...like fantasy. Trust me, I will tell you nothing but the truth, but it is up to you if you believe me or not...and some of it is, frankly, even beyond me at times. Let me try though..."

They walked away, into the crowd. Grampa watched from the window and shook his head. No good would come of it, but it was beyond him to stop it now...

* * *

"And tonight, he will do this to him?"

"Either tonight or in the next few days. But it has to be done soon for his own sake. You have told me yourself about the anger inside him, the other side that's not quite in control." Boris was pacing back and forth, kicking up little clouds of dust on the dry earth. Olyusha was sat in the shade of a tree. "Its the only way. Tell me, has he ever...hit you?"

Olyusha glared at Boris. "He wouldn't dare!" Then she lowered her head. "No, never hit me, but he has frightened me a few times. More than a few times lately."

"And he will only get worse."

"And you say once he enters this mist, this Twilight, he will be cured?"

"I honestly don't know, but my master will do all he can to get the twilight to draw out all the darkness in him, all the anger, the hate."

"And your master can do this for everyone?" She looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"No...he cant. Zakhar was.. born.. differently. Grampa says a small number of people in the world are born... like Zakhar. Like yourself..." He almost whispered at the end.

"Sorry?"

Boris stared at the ground. "Like yourself. You're special to." His face reddened as soon as the words left his mouth. He began to stammer. "I..I..I don't just mean your nice or anything, I mean, I mean..."

"You mean your master has seen something in me to."

"He hasn't, I did." Olyusha stared at him and then looked away. "I'm sorry.." he continued "I shouldn't have said anything."

She held out her hand. "Come, sit next to me. I have... a lot... to think about."

Boris sat, both of them in silence, beneath the gentle rustling of the old beech tree...

* * *

"You cannot go to him tonight, I'm not ready, I cant help you yet!" Zabulon insisted.

Zakhar shook his head. "I have to or I'll not wed Olyusha..."

"Stop thinking with your prick for a minute and listen to me!" Zakhar began to sulk, but Zabulon ignored it. "If you go to that old bastard tonight you'll condemn yourself! He isn't just some old charlatan peddling bottled cures, he knows things. Dammit man, he will find me in your mind in a flash! I need to hide first. " Then muttered to himself. "I'm not making the same mistake again."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, just contemplating what to do."

Zakhar tutted. "Your just a voice in my head. You know I don't trust you don't you? "

"Right now, you don't have any choice."

Zakhar could almost feel Zabulon pacing inside his head. Just in the same way as he was pacing around the old barn. "So what do I do then?"

Zabulon reached a decision. "I'm going to have to merge with you, blend everything together so there isn't anything left to hide. Be part of your psyche. "

"My what?"

"Never mind. I'm a moment your going to feel a strange sensation. Don't resist it. Its the only way you'll get Olyusha."

"Is it the only way?"

"Yes."

"I'm scared."

Zabulon remained silent. A moment later Zakhar felt a slithering, pressing feeling spread across his mind. Memories flooded in, thoughts that were not his own. He baulked for a second, floundering like a drowning man in a flash flood, and tried to push back against the current. He heard/felt Zabulon hiss "For fuck sake don't fight me, this is hard enough as it is!"

Zakhar hesitated briefly; It was all Zabulon needed. Ramming forward he spread himself out like a web, intertwining with the nodal memories and thoughts of Zakhar, the emotions of the inner darkness, completing the meld.

Zabulon/Zakhar open his eyes. The whole process took no more that a minute in real time... a millennium had past in his mind. He breathed deeply and looked at his hands, familiar and new, turning them over slowly while studying them.

"Oh my.." said Zakhar. "I am you, you are me...you always were..."

Zabulon answered. "Are you still afraid?"

"Not any more, and I know why. I have your...my...memories now. Now I know what has/will happen."

"Forewarned is forearmed."

"Yes...indeed..."

Zabulon/Zakhar looked around the barn and flexed his arms, enjoying the feeling of the youthful flesh. His eyes alighted on a barrel full of water.

"I need a drink." he declared loudly to no one in particular. Feeling very smug, he plunged his head into the liquid and drank deeply until he was running out of air. Lifting his head out he watched the ripples on the surface slowly settle... and let out a shattering scream.

"My eyes! My eyes!"

Clinging to the sides of the barrel he stared at his reflection.

Demon eyes stared back at him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Where is he? Where is that lazy, good for nothing brat of mine!" Pyotr reeled into the bar, the smell of stale beer clinging to him like a haze. "I sent him out with my best milking goat and he's not come back with my money!"

"Calm down man...!" shouted the barman. "I haven't seen him since this morning, out there, when he fell over with that damn goat...and if that was your best one you wont be getting much ale tonight I think!"

There was a ripple of laughter, Pyotr was too drunk to notice.

"If you see the boy, send him home, and he had better have my money with him!" The inebriated man staggered backwards through the door, grabbing at the frame to stop himself falling over, a few derisory cat-calls following him out. Zig-zagging down the path, hurling abuse at the air, he wobbled back home, muttering increasingly extravagant punishments when he got hold of his son.

Arriving back at his unlit hovel he threw the door open. Dropping onto a chair he reached for the lamp on the table. It took a few attempts to get the tinderbox out of his pocket, even more to light the lamp.

His head hanging low onto his chest, he was beginning to drift off to sleep when he felt someone watching him. Bleary eyed he looked up. A figure was sat in the shadows by the cold fireplace.

"Boy...my money, boy..." the words so slurred they were hardly coherent.

"I have your money father." The voice was cold, steady. Pyotr was too pissed to notice the strange accents in the undertones.

"Give it to me...now..."

"I will." Zakhar stepped into the flickering lamp light. He threw the bag of coins on the table. Pyotr reached out for them but before his fingers touched the worn leather pouch, Zakhar slammed his fist onto his fathers hand. It made a satisfying crunch sound, Pyotr howled with what pain he could feel through the alcohol stupor. He looked up at Zakhars face and the howl of pain turned to a scream of terror.

"Look upon me father, look what I have become. Enjoy the sight, it will be your last." Zakhar punched Pyotr in the stomach, forcing his father to retch, causing beer and vomit to cascade from the man's mouth. Then he stopped and watched.

Pyotr, clutching his middle, stood up and began to bellow. "Is that all you got brat...is that all you can do. Come on then, try it, try it again." The hulk of a man began to lumber towards him.

"No, I have something else planned for you." As swift as lightning, Zakhar dropped to the floor and scooped up a handful of vomit. He thrust it into Pyotr mouth and nose, clamping his hand tightly over both. Pyotr's eyes began to bulge as he tried to breathe, his fists flailing at Zakhars face. He ignored it. Eventually Pyotr had to inhale, breathing in the vomit, which lodged in his lungs, choking him. Zakhar threw him to the floor, back into the puddle of puke. Pyotr began coughing and gagging, clawing at his throat and turning blue. Zakhar crouched down next to him, watching, waiting for the glaze of death to start appearing in his fathers eyes.

"This is for mother, you left her to die, I'm returning the favour." he hissed, his demonic irises glinting in the guttering light.

As Pyotr lay still, Zabulon spoke to Zakhar. "Go to the neighbours house, tell them you got back with his money and found him like this...you will be believed."

Zakhar nodded to himself and ran out of the house. And as Zabulon said, he was believed.

* * *

"I'm sorry for the delay Starik, but under the circumstances..." Yegor gestured half heartedly.

"Not a problem," said Grampa "..it gives me more time to prepare."

"I wont pretend that Pyotr's death was unexpected, or even fortuitous. I was worried for Olyusha, wanting to marry into that family, but now the problem has gone away. Hopefully the other one will be as easy to achieve?" Yegor's eyebrow raised in a questioning manner.

"Sir, I can guarantee results first time, if I could just see the lad...?"

"No one had seen much of him since his father died. He's taken to being alone a lot, he's not even spoken to my daughter. People who have caught sight of him says he walks around with his head hung low, so no one can see his face. I expect its to hide the tears, although why he would want to grieve for that...man. His father always bullied him for not being 'manly' enough, which usually meant drinking himself into a stupor and beating up a woman."

Starik didn't need the heightened senses of an Other to hear the dripping sarcasm in Yegor's voice.

"I take it you didn't like him then...?"

The expression on Yegor's face said it all. "I felt sorry for his lad, even after he became a bit...strange...again the fault of his father. He saw his mother die because of him...indirectly, but still the man's fault. She choked to death with Black lung, dangerous but curable usually, but Pyotr had spent all the money she had set aside for doctors fees on ale. The poor lad had to sit there and watch his mothers rattling screams as she drowned in her own fluids. He was only young, his father was no where to be seen, it was I and two of my farm hands who had to break in and rescue the poor lad, Pyotr had left them both locked in the house. I found his sat by his mothers body, it was after that... well he wasn't the same again. No, it was a fitting end for a repulsive excuse for a man."

Starik nodded slowly, even though he couldn't help feeling there was more to the story than Yegor was willing to tell.

"So then" Yegor continued "..when would be best to help Zakhar?"

"Tomorrow morning. As the market is now over I will need to move on soon."

"Of course, of course. I will send Olyusha to tell him this evening, It might lift his spirits a little, god knows he could probably do with it by now!"

* * *

"Boris, I don't think Zakhar likes me any more." Olyusha was stretched out face down on the grass, watching a cricket climbing one of the green blades. "He wont talk to me, even from a distance. I tried calling over to him earlier, when I was sent on an errand, but he just scurried away into his house and locked the door."

"He does, I'm sure he does." Boris replied half-heartedly, distracted by the smooth curve of her back.

Olyusha heard the far away tone of his voice and turned over with a smile. "You like me, don't you?"

Boris almost bolted as though struck by lightning. It took several moments before he composed himself enough to reply. "Yes."

She turned back onto her stomach, and watched the cricket leap away. "I have...a confession to make. I don't think I like him."

"Oh...?"

"I'm... scared for him, but lately I'm more scared OF him. He's not the same...he's...broken somehow, and its getting worse." Suddenly sitting upright, she stared into Boris's eyes. "I don't want to end up like his mother...or worse. And since you have told me about...Others...it seems a lot of things have fallen into place. I...have decided..that...I don't want to marry him any more."

Boris was taken aback. "But...but.."

"There's so much I want to see, to do..." she smiled "..to experience. Marriage in this village means a life time of unpaid servitude. Endless childbirth and an early grave. Until last week I would have been contented with that because I didn't know any different, but...you have told me about so many things, so much you have seen in such a short time." She looked into the distance, at the mountains. "I've always wanted to see what lies beyond those...if I marry I never will."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Meant to what? Open my eyes to reality? For that alone I will be eternally grateful. I want to see Zakhar well, of course, but I don't want to marry him after. I ...have just one more favour to ask."

"What?"

"When, if, you cure Zakhar, take me with you."

"What?"

"As soon as he is cured everyone is expecting us to wed. If he isn't... I will still be married off to one of fathers associates. I'm of age now...just an asset." There was genuine bitterness in her voice. "Until you arrived I never realised, but I've been...listening...for the first time in my life. I've heard true reality, and I do not like it. If I am an Other, I can leave...I can leave can't I?"

"Well yes, but...you mean..."

"Take me to you're world Boris...make me like you."

"I...I..don't know how. Grampa hasn't taught me how to yet!"

"Then ask him! They are going to try and cure Zakhar in the morning. Fathers already told me to take a message to him, but he wont speak to me. So I left a note...I saw him read it."

"And then we will leave soon after...its what we usually do."

"So take me with you!"

"I cant!"

"You can, and you know it." She stood up, her eyes boring into his. He felt a flush rise to his cheeks, and a rising somewhere else. Her lips parted in a glorious smile, and Boris was lost. If at that moment she had asked for the moon he would have split the Twilight asunder trying to get it for her.

"Take me..." she whispered...

* * *

Gesar stopped talking for a moment, lost in memories long since past.

"So I did, I took her, or, more correctly, she took me. She didn't exactly rape me..." he chuckled "..I was perfectly willing! What I didn't expect was what came next. At the...height...of passion, I accidentally entered the Twilight with her entwined in my arms. I still don't know how it happened. And so, she became a Light one by default, although with those kind of thoughts on her mind it was a surprise!"

Gesar let out a hearty laugh, which startled Anton for a moment. He had never heard him laugh like that before, it was a little unnerving, but infectious, and he smiled. But Gesar's face fell.

"We never anticipated what came next though...not in a thousand years..."

* * *

Zakhar/Zabulon stomped around the interior of the house, the vomit stain on the floor still visible despite hours of cleaning. The Zabulon within assured the Zakhar without that it wasn't there, it was just in his mind, but that didn't bring much comfort. As he paced back and to, he kept glimpsing his reflection in the window, the dark evening outside creating a mirrored effect against the only paned opening in the house. Mama had been so proud the day it had been installed...father had promised there would be more one day...one day...

Zakhar picked up a wooden bowl from the table and flung it against the glass, smashing it, each of the cracked facets reflecting his face, reflecting his cat slit eyes.

"Calm! Calming thoughts!" Zabulon hissed. "You must relax, think of all the good things in life. If you go to the old man angry or bitter your dark side will be forced on you forever."

"And what is so bad about that?"

Zabulon scowled. "Look through your memories idiot, you already know the answer to that!"

Zakhar breathed deeply. "Good thoughts, good memories " he mumbled, finding it difficult to find any. Then he thought of Olyusha, her warm smile, her gentle hand, her smooth skin, her hot breath while he fondles her breasts.

Zabulon laughed. "Not exactly appropriate, but it should achieve the same thing. As long as you only feel nothing but peace and goodwill when the old man takes you through the Twilight, it might work."

Zakhar smiled. Yes, it would work, all the difference is the mood on first entering...and this time the mood would be right...and then Olyusha would be his.

Zabulon was just grateful he could still block some of the memories from Zakhar, and stop him from knowing what had already happened...

* * *

"It is time." Yegor said. "Will you need assistance?"

"No, I will be fine" answered Starik. "It is best if just me and the boy do this, the less who would observe the better, if only to save the young man's feelings." Starik didn't want to explain why he and Zakhar would seem to disappear into nothingness for a brief time. He knew what happened to those accused of witchcraft, and, although they could never catch him, his livelihood would be gone. It didn't matter to him, but the boy was still young, still learning. As he himself was also. He was late becoming an Other, and some things still surprised him.

Yegor nodded, that was the normal way of doctors, of all kinds. He supposed it was just a professional thing, but suspected that some of the less savoury procedures were not for the weak stomached.

Starik headed towards Zakhars house. "Boy, Boris, where are you?" he called. "The one time I have some real work for you and you wander off somewhere." There was no answer. Never mind, thought Starik, I don't need him, as long as he stays out of trouble while I am busy.

He could guess what sort of trouble he was currently engaged in, from the look on Boris's face last night when he returned to the inn, the ecstatic aura surrounding him. But what's done is done, as long as the lad realised they were leaving tomorrow, and recriminations on a certain girls wedding night can begin when they are long gone.

He reached Zakhars house and politely knocked at the door. "It is time, I am here to help you." He called.

"Come in" said Zakhars voice.

Starik pushed open the door and entered the dimly lit house...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Zakhar?" Starik stood in the doorway. The shutters were closed on the windows, hiding the damage.

"I'm here." A steady voiced reply.

"Come here then, where I can see you, don't worry lad, I'm here to help you."

"You come in here."

"At least let some light in here, open the windows..."

"They are shut as a sign of respect and mourning, you of all people should know that, sir."

Starik shook his head, something about the lads tone irked him, but he let it pass. "Very well. I don't need to see you to help you, if that is your wish."

"It is."

Starik moved inside, but made no move to shut the door.

"Please, be seated." the voice said, and Starik could see a figure gesture towards the table and chair near the door. "I know why you are here, you are here to cure my mind."

"I am here to see if it can be cured...you see, there is a place..."

"Spare me the explanations old man, I read the note Olyusha left, the long and unnecessary letter."

"But I had to explain what would happen to you, what you would feel like afterwards..."

"Enough!" Zakhar slapped his hand against the table. Calm thoughts, calm thoughts! Zabulon inside soothed. He visibly relaxed. "I am sorry, its just I do not care about the afterwards, I just wish to be whole again."

"Very well. If you are ready, would you please stand and take hold of my hands." Starik held out his hands to the shadows of the room, two hands came forwards and grasped them.

Good feelings, good thoughts! Zabulon prompted, before retreating as far back in Zakhars mind as he could, pushing forward all the happy memories he could find, that didn't involve any sort of violence or pain. Zakhar had been right, there wasn't many, but there were enough. Zakhar imagined Olyusha's face in front of him, smiling. Zabulon felt the aura from Starik. Wait, this old fool wasn't strong enough to initiate him. So be it, if the old man died it would be the Twilights doing and not his.

He felt the drawing-in begin. The world began to phase around him slightly, but Starik was weak, it was going to take time to complete the full immersion. Zakhar began to breath deeply, a rush of pleasure flowed through his body, courtesy of Zabulon, the only intervention he could risk now. The old man began to tremble, even on the edge Zakhar's strength was draining him.

Zakhar glanced over to the open doorway, looking out on the shimmering world so beautiful, he had never seen it that way before. Its the Twilight at work, Zabulon whispered, and its working the way we want it to, but, look away from the door now...

Why? Danger point. Concentrate on the good, deny the bad.

Zakhar closed his eyes briefly, revelling in the slow caress from the first tendrils of the Twilight. He didn't know why he looked back at the open door for a fleeting second but as he did so he heard Zabulon howl.

In the distance he saw Olyusha passing by the foot of the low hill, holding the hand of Boris. And she was Light.

Zakhar's howl joined the rising crescendo of Zabulons. Starik didn't stand a chance, he saw Zakhar in sharp relief, his eyes aflame with power. The old man didn't even have time to cry out, his energy and life ripped from him as Zakhar slammed his way into the Twilight. As the old mans dead body slumped to the ground, the Twilight clutched Zakhars mind and began to feed. Love, kindness, compassion, sucked from him like a vampires kiss. The memories Zabulon tried to suppress came flooding through, fuelling his wrath even more. Blazing with irate power, Zakhar passed through the barrier between human and Other, agony streak through his senses, his soul blazed with searing fire.

He couldn't breathe, and yet every breath drew in a lifetime of air. He couldn't make a sound and yet the howl could be heard across the ages.

Boris and Olyusha heard the screams. Turning to each other, Boris just said "Run". They turned and fled, heading for Yegor's house on the edge of the village.

Zakhar's house exploded in a shower of splinters as he came screeching back out of the Twilight. He didn't need to see his aura to know what had happened, what he had become.

Dark.

Shining with power he blasted everything in his path, smashing the village before him, killing everyone. The terrified people ran before him. He revelled in their fear, drank in the exquisite pheromones release from there pain as they died. Destroying and burning everything he saw he ran in the direction Boris and Olyusha had fled.

Boris could see him coming, Olyusha was blinded by tears and was letting him lead, he veered off the path and headed into the trees, running towards the hills and the mountains beyond. Briefly looking back he saw her fathers house burst into flames, and her father dismembered at a single gesture from Zakhar. Boris kept running, half carrying the girl in his arms, until nightfall, when exhaustion made him collapse. Huddling in a small crack in a hillside he heard Zabulon/Zakhar howling, the primordial yell freezing his guts.

But Zakhar was spent, the violent outpouring of power draining him almost to death. Zabulon raged, and tried to drag the/his body in the direction Boris had run. It was no good, it was still young and unaccustomed to the energies forced through it. Letting out one more howl he collapsed to the ground. In his mind he heard a voice whispering. "You cannot change the past, what is, will be. You cannot become what you are not meant to become."

Lying with his head on the turf, tears flowed down his cheeks and moistened the ground. It would be the last time he ever cried, and for one brief moment lost in time, he wept.

* * *

"We ran for three days, heading for the mountains. The climb was a different story, but needless to say, Olyusha got to see what was beyond them."

Gesar fell silent. Anton tried to take in all he had been told. Gesar gazed out of the window, a small flock of birds had alighted on the sill. He watched them absent-mindedly. After a while he continued.

"So you see Anton, what you saw in Zabulon, it was this need to go back and change things, to become Light. But you cant change the past, not like that. So you must bring him back, for his sake as well as our own."

Anton frowned. "I don't...know if.."

"If you can? Try at least."

Anton nodded. Waving his hands in the air he began to weave a spell unseen by Gesar before, and invisible to him now. But even he, shielded from the power, could feel the crackle of energy sparking against his skin as the spell grew. Anton began to pant short gasps of air. Gesars eye was drawn back to the window. The birds lay dead on the ledge. He heard a shout in the corridor outside, but the door remained locked.

Anton's hands moved faster and faster. There was a scream somewhere down below in the street outside, snarling traffic coming to a halt. Gesar could see the wavering energy ball beginning to form in from of Anton and gasped. To be able to see it meant more power concentrated in that one place than any he had ever seen before.

A shadow began to form at the centre. The shadow became a shape. The shape grew.

The concussion when Anton released the power knocked Gesar off his feet and blew out the glass from the window, cascading down on the street below. The furniture in the room shattered like matchsticks, the inner office wall bulged out and collapsed despite the wards guarding it.

As the dust settled, Gesar coughed and crawled onto his hands and knees. In the middle of the room, untouched by all the debris, stood Anton. Next to him was a figure lying on the floor, curled up in the foetal position. It slowly began to unfurl.

"Welcome...back... Zabulon" Gesar gasped.

Silently, Zabulon stood up. Gesar noticed a difference immediately. The Dark one growled and aimed to swing a muscular arm at Gesars head, then stopped, smiled and winked at him. Tapping the side of his nose he pointed at Gesar with a gun motion. Gesar looked at him open-mouthed.

"No, I know something better." hissed Zabulon, and instantly vanished.

It took a moment for it to sink in that Zabulon had gone. Suddenly, sheer panic hit Gesar like a fist. He scrabbled through the remnant of his desk, trying to find the phone. Grabbing it out of a pile of shredded papers he jabbed frantically at the extension button. After an age a voice answered.

"Contact the Inquisition again. We have a serious situation here...further to the previous message. Zabulon has returned...and he's unsealed. He's no longer bound by the watch seals!"

Anton looked at Gesar. "Where has he gone?"

"To kill the one person who matters in all this. He's gone into the Twilight to look for her. When Sveta cursed him to 'never know love' it removed the last thing holding him back."

"You mean..."

"Yes, Olyusha...is Olga. And she's currently linked to your Nadya..."

* * *

Authors note

The story of Zabulons past was originally going to be a separate story, but as I approached the point where it intersected this story it begged to be written now, albeit more briefly than originally planned. It is my way of trying to explained the unexplained animosity between the two leaders that goes beyond normal Light/Dark rivalries.

Normal story will be resumed shortly :) …. Enjoy :)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"7 dead, 13 comatose, at least a dozen more with side effects." The man read out the list to the solemn faces sat around the table. "Also, reports of freak localised weather effects..."

"It was a lot of energy discharged at once," Gesar interjected glancing to one side. "A huge amount."

Anton was sat next to him, his head hung low, a look of misery on his face. "I didn't know" he whispered.

Gesar sighed. "No Anton, it was my fault. I'm an old fool at times, I should have questioned where a Neutral draws power from." He tapped his chest and pointed at Anton's. "At least we know what its for now."

The Master Inquisitor nodded. "For once I agree. You didn't know, and were asked to..."

"But those poor people!" Anton leaped up. "They were my fault!"

"No, they were not. You did not know, none of us did. But may I suggest you just stick to basics now."

"I'm still a danger to everyone."

"Not any more, you know now, and so do we."

Anton sat back down. He glanced through the twilight at the rotating diamond free-floating in his chest. He felt as though he should revile it, it drank those peoples lifeforce, it powers itself on the very essence of life itself, and yet it gave him a strange comfort, eased the guilt in his mind. He missed part of the conversation around him for a moment.

"…..the next problem."

"What, sorry I wasn't listening."

The Master Inquisitor repeated himself. "And now we must find a solution to the next problem." His eyes seemed to sparkle behind his glasses. "Please, tell us in as much detail as you can remember your encounter in England."

Falteringly Anton relayed as much as he could remember. As the recounting progressed, The Master Inquisitor became visibly more excited and agitated. But when Anton spoke the names of the first true Others, he sat bolt upright, wide eyed and pale. Gesar watched the Inquisitor with growing comprehension.

"You're Kardos, aren't you?" he said, a little awe in his voice. "You said you were the first..."

"Yes, I am Kardos, a name I haven't used for at least a thousand years. And it seems Robert is fully aware of me and my intentions."

Murmurs from around the table. "I don't understand..."

Kardos turned to Anton. "These people, Others, that were there, Robert said they were all victims of some sort of persecution you say? I highly doubt it."

Anton frowned. "But he said...claimed..."

"Dark and Light together? No animosity? Even within the ranks of the Inquisition there is always some form of friction". Gesar raised an eyebrow and stored the little fact that Kardos had let slip for future reference.

The Master Inquisitor continued. "No, they were there for another purpose. Having seen how you 'work' Anton, I'm guessing he uses them as a form of Battery pack. Never taking too much, just enough to keep them docile for some purpose." He held up a hand before anyone could speak. "Oh I daresay they all believe that they are there for their own good, that's an easy enough suggestion to implant in any mind, given the time and resources he has." He glared at Gesar. "After all, look what he achieved in Anton after your botched attempt to change him, and he did it without a millennium's worth of priceless items."

Gesar nodded. "I concede that was my mistake, and I will be punished for it in due course. But isn't there a more pressing matter at the moment."

"Yes. The matter of Zabulon. Any news on that yet?"

Kardos's secretary shook his head. "None so far."

"Good, and bad at the same time. While Olga is linked to Nadya the danger is there."

"What danger?" Anton was fully aware or his surroundings now.

"None to your daughter I'm sure, but if Zabulon tries to attack Olga, she will automatically defend herself, drawing through Nadya. The energy released inside the Twilight could be enormous, enough to 'feed' it again and restart the disappearances. And the seals would have been for nothing." He couldn't keep the note of bitterness out of his voice.

"'I'm sure' you say, how sure?" Anton began to rise, but Gesar held him down.

"Very sure." Kardos said. "She will be stronger than me one day, and Zabulon is no more than a flea on a dog to me."

"Fleas still have a habit of irritating though" said someone at the end of the table. A ripple of laughter answered the remark.

"And they still have a habit of biting you in the ass when you least expect it" added Kardos, to another round of laughs.

Anton said "It should be me, I should go in and swap with Nadya".

"Why? Olga cant use your type of power. You are no longer 'compatible' with Light or Dark and even if you could, where would you draw from? People would be dropping dead around you."

A look of anguish crossed Anton's face. "Did you have to put it like that?"

Kardos sighed. "I'm sorry but I had to drive home the point. Your part in all this is over for now. And it appears our task just got a lot harder. You can guarantee Robert already knows what I am trying to do. No, if it comes to the crunch, Nadya will have to drop the connection to Olga."

"But that will leave her defenceless!" cried Gesar.

"She wont do it." said Anton.

Kardos frowned. "You are her father, you must command her to."

Anton stood up, wrenching free of Gesars hand. "I ask, I do not command. That is the difference between you and me Dark one, Light asks...Dark demands."

"You are not a Light one any more."

The words struck Anton like a slap. No he wasn't. He felt Light, but a mere glimpse through the Twilight showed the vast difference. But he recovered quickly. "Nevertheless, I do not command."

"Very well, ask... If she feels a sudden increase in the drain of power to drop the connection immediately."

Anton nodded, feeling he had won a small victory over the Inquisitor.

"It does make me wonder though..." spoke a small man opposite Anton across the table. "..if you cannot change the past, why did Zabulon come back unsealed?" A few voices of agreement followed the man's statement.

Kardos stared hard at the man. "Milo, you would love me to say 'I don't know' wouldn't you?"

Gesar studied the man. A fairly newcomer to the inquisition, Milo was a brash, young American, currently acting as second in command as the one he superseded died when sealed. Another statistic to add to the list. Gesar was surprised to be told he was a Light one, the man didn't act it most of the time, but then, there was no such thing as typicals amongst the Others. He also got the impression Kardos didn't fully trust the new one. Gesar didn't himself.

"No of course not sir, no one would know why." Milo's voice was rich and deep, almost seductive.

The hair on the back of Gesars neck raised involuntarily. Yes, this was one that didn't induce trust easily. It suddenly dawned on Gesar how much he had used his powers to judge people, without it he was floundering and suspicious of everyone, although in this case instinct seemed to be taking over. He remained quiet.

"Well, I don't know, Milo." Kardos said. "But the 'travelling' might have negated the seal in some way."

"He still bears the watch seal, unlike Anton over there?"

"He does."

A Dark one called out. "Then let Anton send us all and bring us back! Anything but this purgatory!"

Kardos was becoming angry. "Oh? And how many hundred's, thousand's, would you see killed just to do it?"

"Better them than us!"

"You FOOL!" Kardos bellowed. "How would you keep so many deaths a secret? Others would be discovered, and with no way to protect ourselves. The humans would wipe us off the planet! And in sending you back, if Anton did it this very second, how many in this room would die? It isn't discriminate of who's life it drains...idiot."

The Dark one seemed deflated, utterly exhausted. "I'm sorry, I'm just desperate. We all are. If we had known I don't think anyone would have agree. We would have taken the loses in the lower ranks instead."

"You would have, that's typical of your kind." A light one interjected. The Dark one snarled back.

"That is ENOUGH!" Kardos shouted. "What chance have we got if we cant even control the in-fighting within the inquisition!" The room fell silent. "NO more returns, that's an order. Zabulon was a mistake, one we may all pay dearly for yet, but we'll deal with it as it comes. Even now I have unbound watchers patrolling the Twilight." He held up his hand. "Yes I know there is a prohibition on its use, I made the damn thing! But we cannot let him wander around in there unobserved. He is a dangerous individual, even for a Dark one, and powerful to. And we don't know what he's going to do next..."

"I do. Or at least I can guess." Gesar said, his voice so controlled it came out monotoned.

"Oh? Apart from Olga?"

"He's going to try and find Robert."

"Why?"

"Because we are looking, he's going to try and get there first."

"You mean..."

"He plans to kill Robert, and leave us all like this forever...his ultimate revenge..."

* * *

Olga shivered. The constant dimness of the Twilight was beginning to drive her mad. The first few days after she had been linked to Nadya she had studied her surroundings. Drawing as little as possible from her friends daughter, Olga had been exploring. She had never really spent a great deal of time there before, never more than a day at most, the Twilight had always been assumed to be mostly for shortcut travel, or the ultimate in privacy from humans. There were a myriad of other uses, but most of them needed only a few seconds in the gloom at the most. She had dropped lower just the once, aware that she was using borrowed power, and went to have a quick look at level six. It was populated again, she knew it would be. A mere glimpse was enough. If she didn't get out of the Twilight soon that level would be the last place she would ever see...and see it forever.

She shivered. The temperature never seemed to waver from its low constant, but for some reason she felt more chilled than usual. She tried to settle down to sleep for a while, drawing a few tendrils of mist and weaving an insubstantial blanket to try and keep out the cold. It never worked, but it just gave a modicum of imagined comfort.

Turning over, Olga listened to the sounds around her, sighing whispers like the passing of souls, echoing footfalls of people who were never born, nor ever would be. She wondered where the Twilight had come from originally, what it had been, before humans and Others evolved, and discovered it. But she curtailed the train of thought quickly, it gave her disturbing thoughts.

Suddenly she heard a faint noise, different from the background ambiance. Not moving, but straining her ears she listened. It sounded like someone approaching. Breathing. Turning round slowly she saw a pair of feet in front of her...or more accurately, a pair of hooves.

She looked up. "Zabulon! How did you get in here!" Then Olga saw the flame in his eyes as he reached down and dragged her back up by her hair.

"I've come to take what was always mine in the first place." He grinned, pulling her towards him.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Oh thank goodness your here." Mrs Skovich shuffled down the hall. "She hasn't stopped crying for the best part of an hour, and she wont tell me what's wrong." She wrung her hands in distress.

Sveta frown. "Its alright" she said as she brushed past the old woman and into the lounge. Nadya was sat on the floor, curled up in a ball, silent tears falling onto the carpet. Sveta dropped down beside her. "Nadya, sweetheart, mummy's here, mummy's here..."

Nadya glanced at he mother and unfurled, flinging her little arms around Sveta's neck.

"Oh mummy!" she sobbed.

"What's up, what's the matter?"

"Its Aunty Olga, she's hurting, hurting bad."

Sveta turned ice cold, it took all her will power to stifle a shriek. She cradled her daughter in her arms, rocking her back and forth, trying to calm her and ease her tears, seriously considering ripping the link apart from her friend, despite the consequences.

"Shhhh Nadya, shhhh... settle down now, I'll go and see what is wrong, but not until my little girl is settled." It took a while for Nadya's sobs to subside, Sveta wiped her eyes and held her tightly. The girls breathing changed from skipping jerks to a slow, steady rhythm. Sveta had never used a sleep spell on her daughter before, the guilt hung like a lead weight, but she had to go and didn't want Nadya to follow.

Mrs Skovich stood in the doorway and watched Sveta stand with Nadya in her arms, carrying her to bed. She nodded to the old woman, who nodded back...no need to ask her to watch over the little one. Once Sveta was satisfied that Nadya was deep under and tucked in, she stepped into the Twilight. Following the faint tracery from the threads of the link she began to follow them back through the gloom. The journey was swift, she folded the mists around her, using them to her advantage, forcing them to assist her rapid passage. When she reached the end of the link she was confused, there was no sign of Olga. She dropped deeper in, level 2, still no sign. Only when she reached level 4 did she see something.

It wasn't recognisable as human.

Sveta placed her hand on the pile of beaten flesh and was horrified to find it was still alive.

Quickly she started to probe, flinging healing spells into Olga's body the same way as she had tried with Anton. The Twilight was draining her too rapidly at this level, so with a scream almost primordial Sveta dragged Olga back to Level 1, incanting the most powerful healing magic she knew. Arcane's, modern's, even some she was creating as she went along, the progress was painfully slow. Sweating and swearing, Sveta swallowed down the bitter bile in her throat as her fury at the perpetrator burned deep inside her soul. Agonisingly slowly the battered form began to take on shape. Through the reassembled face, Olga began trying to speak using her bruised, swollen lips. Sveta shook her head and motioned her to stay silent, completing a particularly difficult incantation.

After what felt like a lifetime, Sveta sat back on her haunches, she had done what she could, time would have to heal the rest. "Who Olga..." she finally asked.

Olga squeezed her eyes shut, holding back tears, but Sveta detected they were not out of pity or pain for herself, but...guilt?

"Zabulon..." Olga finally said, her voice cracking. "I suppose it's no more than I deserve..."

"NO ONE DESERVES THAT!" shouted Sveta, her anger making her visibly shake.

Olga looked at Sveta, an aeon of time and past life reflected in their depths. Sveta felt her rage drain away, she tried to cling on to it, to keep the fire of revenge burning, but it slipped away, ephemeral like the mist that swirled around them both. "Why...?"

"Long story." Olga replied, but offered no more.

"Why didn't you try to protect yourself! Use some of Nadya's power?"

"I can't."

"What? This damnable prohibition against using power in here? To the Dark with all that..."

"No...not that. I mean I can't, really can't. She's keeping me alive in here, but I can't use any of it...I can't draw any power...Believe me I tried...it just made him...more..." Olga turned her head away.

Realisation dawned. "Oh Olga, did he...?"

Olga just nodded. "It's why I dropped into the 4th level myself, so Nadya wouldn't know, at least not that bit... I'm sorry, I couldn't stop her… feeling the pain from the beating though. Is she alright?"

Sveta was cold inside. "I used a sleep spell on her before I came looking for you."

"Let her sleep then..." Olga turned over on the cold floor. "I could use some myself..."

"Where is the bastard now then?" The anger was returning, but this time with a sub zero calm.

"I don't know...he seemed...preoccupied...even while he..."

"It's alright Olga, I will find him."

"And then?"

"I will kill him."

* * *

Zabulon stepped out of the portal feeling good. He brushed down his clothes and inspected his new look in the mirror. It had taken years to perfect this look, totally normal, totally forgettable. A person could talk directly to him but if asked five minutes later what he had looked like, no one would remember. The only thing he couldn't completely hide was his aura, and as all the watches were now useless, he felt it was a calculated risk worth taking. All they would see, if capable, was a trace, like a low levelled uninitiated Other, which suited his purpose just fine.

He almost giggled, heady on the feelings of wellbeing. He had never felt so unburdened, until that moment he had never realised how much the running of the Dark Watch had weighed him down, stymied his every move in paperwork and protocol. Now all he had to answer to was himself, there was no one to stop him. He liked it that way. He wanted to keep it that way.

Checking his jacket pockets briefly and making a quick inventory of the items he had placed in them, he stopped a moment to consider if he needed more. He ran a check list of possible outcomes and decided no, you can only plan for so much. Zabulon surprised himself with the thought, he had always planned for every eventuality in the past. This time he did giggle. 'Its the new me' he thought to himself, then opened another portal and left...

* * *

It was raining, the dull grey sky matching him mood. Gesar stood facing the wall in Kardos office, fighting to control his feelings. Sveta had sent him a short message, the words were etched in fire onto his brain. 'Zabulon attacked Olga. She survived. Zabulon wont. Have gone to find him... Sveta.'

He couldn't help having mixed feelings, relief, concern, fury. But now wasn't the time for it. Sveta's cryptic message 'she survived' indicated it had been very bad. But the fact Sveta had gone looking for the Dark one when she was needed back at headquarters... well, if anyone could find him, she could, but would it be too late?

"Gesar?" The Master Inquisitor spoke. "Have you any thoughts on where we should start the search for Robert?"

Anton cleared his throat in a small cough. "If you don't mind me saying so...wouldn't the best place to start be where I saw him last?"

"No" said Gesar, "...I doubt if he is still there, and even if he was, you said yourself you were not even sure how you found him the first time. He's certainly not going to extend an invite a second time."

"Maybe I can...trace him...from there though?"

Kardos cupped his hands in front of his face. "Possibly, a Neutral to catch a Neutral. But you know what happens if you draw too much power don't you?"

"I was thinking about that, and I think I can control it...now I know what it is causes it..."

"You think, but you're not sure..."

"I say let him try." Gesar turned around. "What other choices do we have?"

The Inquisitor nodded slowly. After a moments silence he jabbed at the intercom button. "Ready my private plane for immediate usage, no questions asked...you know the usual channels to go through."

He rose and opened the door. "Gentlemen, after you."

"Ooo travelling in style" Gesar joked darkly.

"You haven't seen the state of the plane yet." Kardos answered. Anton hoped he was kidding.

As they left the room, none of them noticed the faint beeping coming from a mobile phone dialling out from behind the door of the stationary closet...

* * *

"He wasn't kidding!" complained Anton, stretching his spine, which clicked loudly.

"My apologies..." replied Kardos. "...but a cargo shipment can get into places a more obvious plane cannot. It's not the first time we have use it to get into... difficult... places where a portal would be traced. Operatives are usually disguised, hidden inside humanitarian aid parcels and suchlike. This time we were building equipment. This town where we have landed is in the middle of a major sea defence construction, we are 'specialist gear'. This small airport doesn't check the cargo, its sealed before take off. And I didn't want our journey traced." He waved his hand vaguely at their surroundings. "This hanger is a perfect starting point...no CCTV... by arrangement."

Gesar looked pale as he rubbed the circulation back into his arms. "I'm getting too old for all this" he complained.

Kardos slapped him on the back, surprisingly cheery. "Never mind 'Old man'!" He turned to Anton. "Okay, which way do we go now?"

Anton looked around. "I'm not sure, last time I arrived here I didn't exactly land at the airport."

"Then I suggest we hail a taxi over by the terminal and retrace some of your steps from your last visit here."

Anton looked uncomfortable. "Very well." He said, and headed out of the hanger.

"It was somewhere around here, I know it was." Anton brushed his hand through his hair. "But it couldn't have been could it?"

Gesar looked up at the dilapidated, derelict buildings, the condemned sign half hanging from the fence surrounding them. "What do you see now?"

"A mess."

"What do you really see...concentrate."

Anton took two deep breaths. Slowly he opened himself to his power, he sensed the diamond in his Twilight form begin to pulse gently. Gesar suddenly felt light-headed but bore it stoically. Anton looked across at the Inquisitor. Kardos smiled at him, then motion him to continue. Anton drew from them carefully, adding his own lifeforce to the mix. He began to tremble, nervous at the memory of what could happen if he slipped up flashing through his mind.

The building before him began to shimmer and change, reforming to how he had seen it previously. He transmitted what he saw to his two companions; As he pierced the camouflage spell they all saw through his eyes. The spell finally gave way with an almost audible ping, leaving them looking up at the fascia of an old but well tended guest-house...an empty one.

"He's gone". Said Anton.

As they stood just looking for a moment, a figure passed on the pavement behind them, head down, ignoring them. Gesar shivered, he felt if someone had walked over his grave. Looking round suddenly he only saw a man walking away from them, no one else was nearby, no one to trigger the feeling, he still couldn't help thinking they were being watched.

"So, now what?" asked Anton.

"Don't be dumb man, you know what to do, see if there is any residual trail, or a portal trace or something." Kardos sounded almost petulant, impatient at any delay now he was closer than ever to his goal.

Closing his eyes, Anton turned his head around, feeling for a lead. Then, a faint trace, almost like a smell of distant coffee on a whimsical breeze. He opened his eyes, he could see it now, a trail, weak but still there.

"I have one."

"Portalled?"

"No, on foot I think, or a slow vehicle."

"Well let's go then!" Kardos waved his hands before him. Anton headed off in the direction of the trail, the Inquisitor eager behind him, Gesar a few metres behind, with a growing unease that they were being followed...

* * *

As the man passed them he turned around the corner then flattened himself to the wall, watching from a distance. He saw the camouflage fail, felt the power used on it, and the small expedition move off down the road.

Zabulon laughed, although there had been a heart-stopping moment when he thought Gesar had spotted him despite the disguise. But he couldn't resist it, he had to see how well he blended in. This was going to be too easy, why not let them do the work for him? Muttering a few words he dropped an invisibility screen around himself, doubled back, and began to tail them...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The three of them sat silently as the miles past by. Kardos, driving the car, Anton in the front passenger seat, mind open to the trail, Gesar sat in the back, staring at the passing scenery with complete disinterest. He looked up occasionally to watch Kardos at the wheel. He didn't ask where the Inquisitor got the car from. After leaving the town the trail had gone cold for a short while, almost throwing Kardos into a panic, until Gesar suggested the change of transport.

As soon as they reached the motorway Anton picked up the trace again, still like coffee and growing stronger with each mile. They reached a junction, Anton indicated which way to turn, then changed it at almost the last second. Kardos grunted as he swung the vehicle across the lanes, to the sound of loud car horns from behind.

"Sorry, its not exactly easy this you know?" apologised Anton.

"You're doing just fine." replied Gesar. Anton couldn't help thinking he was being patronising just a little. "How far now do you think?"

Anton shrugged. He dipped slightly into the Twilight, where the coffee trail became a visible thread, stretching into the distance. "No end in sight yet...sorry"

"No matter" answered Kardos. "We'll take as long as necessary. For now I think its time for a pit stop." He pointed to a sign for Motorway services. "I need to call in, I didn't bring my mobile with me, its back at the office. And a signal is traceable...We don't want to be traced, for obvious reasons."

Gesar raised a brow. "International from a call box? I hope you brought a bag of coins with you."

Kardos almost sneered. "I may not be able to use my powers any more, but I still have my means."

Gesar glanced around the inside of the car. "How long before this is reported stolen?"

Anton jerked, but Kardos laughed. "Not for a long time yet, humans will believe anything you tell them, as long as its done right."

It reminded Anton that despite being the Master Inquisitor, they were still dealing with a Dark one. It made him feel a little uneasy. But Gesar was unfazed. "You know we are being followed as well, don't you?"

"I had my suspicions, hence the stop-over. We have been followed by the same car since we left, its about three or four vehicles back. Always changing position but always there. It's a bit too much of a coincidence for my liking. No matter, a call should deal with it."

Gesar frowned. "Not an 'accident' I hope."

"Only if necessary."

Anton shook his head. "It isn't right."

"A lot of things are not right, they just are...that is the way of things." Kardos said, the resignation clear in his voice.

Anton glanced back at Gesar, but he just nodded in agreement.

* * *

Pulling into the service station, Anton filled the car with gas, while Gesar paid. Kardos indicated which direction he was going. "I'll meet you in the restaurant in fifteen minutes.." was all he said as he walked away.

Gesar ordered a light meal for himself and Anton, which the Light leader ate with gusto. Anton just pushed the food around the plate, he had little appetite. He glanced at his watch. "He said fifteen minutes, its been half an hour already."

"Don't concern yourself Anton, and eat up, it might be a while before we get to eat again."

Anton put his cutlery down. "I don't like it."

"What, the food?"

"No. This waiting. Something is wrong, I can feel it."

Gesar stopped eating, a forkful of food poised near his mouth as he stared past Anton's shoulder. He slowly put it back on his plate and quietly said "You may be right. A man had just walked in... No, don't turn around. You might think its coincidence, but its the same one who past us when we were stood outside the guest-house. Check him out..."

Anton nodded and Gesar felt the hair rise on the back of his neck as Anton built up a charge. In the crowded room it was easy to draw a little, he was becoming more familiar with how the power felt, different to Light, and yet similar. Sending out an invisible tendril towards the man he allowed it to pass around the strangers body. At first it seemed innocuous, a potential Other but non-initiated. But something didn't feel right, something was missing. He probed deeper, unfelt by the man.

Suddenly, like a veil lifted before his eyes he saw through the disguise as though it didn't exist.

Gesar watched Anton's face change, and saw the man come towards him. Clenching his fists he began to stand but Anton held him back. "Wait..." he said.

Anton began to draw more power, somewhere in the kitchens a plate smashed, a woman nearby fainted, creating a small pool of distraction. The man turned for just a moment. It was all Anton needed. Rising from the chair he turned to face Zabulon and pointed at him.

"Let others see you the way I do." he said, in a flat, emotionless voice.

Before Zabulon had time to react, Anton stripped away the Dark ones disguise.

There was a moment of silence before a scream rent the air and terrified faces all stared at Zabulon.

Zabulon looked down at his hands. Claws.

With a bellow of rage, the demon ploughed his way across the room, throwing chairs, tables and people out of his way. One of the waiters ran towards him with a tray as a shield, and paid with his life as a huge wave of fire engulfed him. The soft furnishings caught fire, adding to the ensuing panic. As smoke and fleeing humans blocked Zabulon's way, Gesar grabbed Anton's hand and dragged him towards the rear doors. Slamming their way through they raced across the car park. Locating their car Anton fumbled with the keys while Gesar looked behind him.

An explosion from the main building made them both duck as debris flew passed, narrowly missing their heads. A piece clipped the front of the car, smashing a headlight. Almost ripping the door open, Anton yelled "IN!"

Gesar slammed into the rear seats as Anton floored the accelerator.

"Kardos..." Gesar wheezed.

"I know, wait." Anton hissed.

Spinning around he headed back around the rear of the building, in the direction Kardos had gone. Gesar felt the tingling on his neck again as Anton dropped a disguise over them. "We look like a dumpster now." he declared.

Gesar opened the passenger door. Wait here, I'll look for him."

"Wait, you cant..."

"Anton...I have to. If you go...you are the only chance we have. If I don't come back, go look for Robert. You're the only one who can..."

"I don't like this..."

"You really think I do?" Gesar slammed the door shut and ducked down, moving as fast as he could. Anton listened to the chaos just metres away. Another explosion. Trying to probe through the shield he had erected he saw no sign of Zabulon. Just residual portal energy. Gone, but to where...

Sirens. The emergency services had arrived. The flames were spreading, through the smaller out buildings, towards the gas station. Anton tapped the steering wheel in an increasing rhythm, rocking back and forth in agitation. Come on, he thought, come on.

The rear door flew open. Gesar bundled Kardos into the back and flung himself on the floor. "GO!" he yelled. Anton floored the accelerator and sped away, almost forgetting to remove the disguise.

A whumph sound told him the station had blown up. The bow wave caught the retreating car, blowing out the rear window and almost flipping them end over end. Barrelling the car towards the exit he flew out onto the motorway. The road ahead was filled with smoke, blinding him and obscuring his view. Anton gritted his teeth and swerved just in time to miss a truck skidding on the wrong side of the road. It jack-knifed and rolled over, hitting other cars behind him. Probing ahead with his power he saw through the smoke, weaving across the three lanes, finding a way. In just a few moments they were clear, they seemed the longest moments of Anton's life.

In minutes they were on an almost empty road, police cars, fire engines and ambulances screeching past in the opposite direction. Bringing the cars speed back down he chanced a look into the back. Gesar was still sat on the floor, Kardos was lying sprawled along the back seat, soot smeared and blood oozing from his head. He was unconscious. Gesar checked his pulse, then turned to Anton.

"Is the sat-nav working in this thing?"

Anton looked at the dashboard and pressed a few buttons. A screen lit up and a female voice spoke. "Welcome, please select your destination.."

"Seems to be."

Gesar gave Anton a destination. "We have a safe house there, should be some unsealed Others who can help."

"Couldn't you just tell me which way to go?"

"I...might not be awake then."

It was then Anton noticed there was too much blood in the back to have all come from Kardos's head wound.

Gesar looked pale. "Just get us there." he said, before passing out cold...

* * *

He was silent now, the seething rage burning cold through his veins. His carefully constructed persona had been stripped in seconds, and there had been nothing he could do about it.

Zabulon slammed his fist into the wall, punching a large dent into the brickwork. Now he had been seen, the disguise was useless. Looking in the mirror of the public convenience he threw on a hastily constructed look, at least it was human. Looking down on the floor at the hapless dead human, who had been standing at the urinal as he portalled in, he smirked and kicked him aside, it was this ones face he had assumed. This human go-between wouldn't need it any more. He had served his purpose. Of course he couldn't remain alive afterwards, but then humans were disposable.

No, his spy was much more important.

As the urinals auto flushed he growled at his contacts choice of setting, his warped sense of humour. But this one was too important to dismiss, and too good an opportunity to miss.

Zabulon considered his options. They had Kardos with them, so they would have to get him medical help, he had hit the Inquisitor hard, but not to kill, the pleasure of that will come later. No, it was to slow them down. That dark-damned Anton was getting too close too soon. Of course they could have always abandoned Kardos and carried on without him, or even been blown up with the gas station. He thought neither was very likely.

One thing Zabulon did have was an advantage though...from a single worded message passed to him from his insider, he knew where Robert was going.

Forming a portal he stepped through. Might as well arrange a welcome party for them...

* * *

Sveta wandered around the Twilight aimlessly. Her message of 'gone to find him' had been a little premature. Strangely the trail had gone cold, as if Zabulon had disappeared off the face of the earth.

She almost cursed her misfortune, and the necessities of family life limiting her search times, but in truth it was herself. She was growing disheartened, each passing moment he was getting further away.

She dropped down to the fifth level, still a drain on her even in short visits, but she liked it here, it help clear her mind.

Except, something didn't feel right this time...

Sveta couldn't put her finger on it, but something about the Twilight here had changed. There wasn't usually any mists on the fifth level, it was usually where peaceful thoughts formed, somewhere to contemplate before the sixth level and meeting the spirit of the Others that were trapped there.

But there was mist, a sickly green tinge to the usual greys. It wrapped itself around her as though trying to hold on. Sveta could feel something tickling at the back of her mind, something trying to get her attention.

"Okay", she said to no one, "What do you want?"

The moment the last word left her lips it was a though a lightning bolt had struck her. She felt herself lifted off her feet, her whole body sparked and skittered as though a million volts flowed through her. Her mind became awashed with a beseeching wailing, with unending, countless voices all mourning as one. Just like when she had formed the link with all those Others just as the seals were shut, memories that were not her own flooded in, but instead of a few dozen there was a memory for every voice she heard, a billion thoughts all cramming into her psyche.

Sveta screamed, or she thought she did, she couldn't hear past the multitude in her mind. There was pain, there was pleasure, there was an endless sea of experiences. But slowly, above all the cacophony, one theme became clear.

"Dont let me die..." she whispered, but it wasn't her own life that spoke.

It was the Twilight.

Gently lowering her back down the mist dissipated rapidly, leaving Sveta gasping and panting, with a hot knife sensation prickling her all over her skin. It took some time before she calmed down, when the full portent of what she had experienced struck home.

The Twilight had spoken to her... and it was dying...

Suddenly a flare in her senses. She felt a portalling, and recognised the trace. Zabulon.

With a renewed sense of purpose, and a growing awareness of the Twilights plight around her, she portalled herself, leaving a brief message behind to no one in particular.

"I wont...I promise..."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The crowd stood silently, the priest, in his white robes, reading a passage from the Bible. The rectangle hole in the ground was receiving its intended occupant, grey mist swirling around their ankles and into the opening in the earth.

Anton felt out of place and detached from it all. He walked over to the grave and watched the coffin receding lower and lower into the darkness. Leaning, following its progress, he felt a hand on his back, pushing him in. He fell, deeper and deeper, all the while the mist pouring over the top of him. As complete blackness engulfed him, all he could hear was "Don't let me die...Anton...Anton..."

"Anton?" said a woman, shaking his arm. He jerked awake, only vaguely aware of his surroundings. "You were dreaming... you can go in and see him now."

Anton nodded and stretched, stiff from his night sat in a chair. Standing up, his joints popping and clicking in protest, he went through the door the woman had just come from.

Gesar was sat up on the edge of the bed, a large bandage around his torso. He was struggling to put his shirt on. Anton helped him then stood back while Gesar buttoned it up.

"So?" he asked. "How are you?"

"Sore. But mending." Gesar winced as he lifted his jacket. "The bandage can come off in a few days,"

"Why didn't you let them heal you completely?"

"As a reminder not to be an idiot again." Gesar frowned. "How's Kardos?"

"Healing...should be up and about this afternoon. He had a fractured skull, but no brain damage."

Gesar grunted. Easing himself up, he staggered slightly.

"So, how did you get injured then?" Anton asked.

"I found Kardos unconscious and bleeding from his head. He had been stuffed in a Janitor cupboard near the phone at the top of some stairs. I don't know if he had used the phone or not. The smoke was pretty thick by then, and carrying him back down I fell into debris at the bottom. A piece of timber from the stairwell ceiling went through my side, upwards into the lung." Gesar looked sheepish. "I half wish it was something more heroic...I said I was getting too old for all this."

Anton raised an eyebrow. "And you still carried him back? I say you're still pretty capable."

Gesar gave a wan smile. "I didn't feel it until we got back to the car. Adrenalin I guess. Has he said who hit him yet?"

"I've not spoken to him yet, but I think there is no need to guess."

"And Zabulon?"

"I don't know, he portalled just before the garage blew up."

Gesar frowned. "He either hasn't found us yet, or he has his own leads."

Anton shrugged. "Not a lot we can do until this afternoon, when Kardos is ready." He looked around the room. "I didn't know this place existed."

"Yes, well, we try not to use safehouses often."

"Ah, so you don't blow their cover?"

"Oh really Anton, you've been reading too many cheap detective novels... No, we don't entirely trust them. Its not just that there is a lot of humans who work for us in them. They can be used by anyone you see, Light or Dark, no questions asked. But because of that there has always been a slight air of distrust, as there always has been between both sides."

"Have any of the houses given credence to that though?"

"No, it doesn't change the suspicions though. That's why they are used sparingly."

Anton shook his head, but said no more on the subject.

Gesar continued. "Can you still find the trail?"

Anton realised he hadn't thought about it since they had left the service station in a hurry. Closing his eyes he turned around slowly. Frowning, he was about to tell Gesar he had lost the trace when, very faintly, the bitter coffee tang just brushed his senses. "Yes I can find it." he answered.

Gesar smiled. "Good, lets find something to eat then, I'm starving." Anton's stomach growled in answer and made him realise he hadn't eaten for more than a day. Gesar laughed. "Sounds like your anatomy agrees with me!"

* * *

After a meal and a drink of chilled beer in the house's kitchen, Gesar turned to Anton. "I'm going to arrange fresh transport for later, can you see how Kardos is doing?"

Anton nodded and left, going up to the room that Kardos was in. Pressing his ear to the door to see if the Inquisitor was awake, he could hear movement. He knocked, but no answer. He tried the handle, it was locked. The sounds behind the door sounded more frantic now.

"Kardos? Kardos!" Anton shouted, and started heaving his shoulder against the door. He could hear running footsteps behind him just as the door lock gave way. He burst into the room, just in time to see a figure fleeing out of the window.

Kardos was lying in bed, a pillow pressed tightly over his face.

Yelling for assistance, Anton flung the pillow away and began mouth to mouth resuscitation. Medical staff crowded in behind him and took over, a mid-levelled healer began to weave healing spells, the humans used more mundane methods.

"Outside!" Anton yelled, "He went out of the window!"

Running back down the stairs, three Others following him, he ran out into the street. He realised he hadn't needed to hurry. The perpetrator had broken his neck in the fall. Human, dead, and unable to say who sent him.

Anton headed back inside while the Others removed the body from view. Gesar was stood by the entrance. "Hows Kardos?"

"I don't know yet, I'm going back up to find out now."

By the time Anton got back to the room Kardos was sat up, although there was still bruising around his face where a hand had been clamped first before the pillow. "You alright?" he asked.

"I am now, thank you Anton." Kardos reached over to the bedside cabinet to his glasses. Putting them on he saw one of the lenses was cracked. "It would have been... extremely unfortunate...to die just yet."

Just for a fleeting moment Anton saw Kardos as he had Zabulon, three ages, the young man he had been, the mighty Dark one he once was, and in the future...nothing. Death was an inevitability then, as it was for all of them one day, but not yet. Anton nodded.

Gesar entered. "Good Kardos, you're alive. Downstairs both of you, quickly. I've secured a car, we're leaving now."

"You cant go yet..." said one of the medics. "He isn't ready, its not safe."

Gesar growled. "So you're saying its safe around here? There will be a report made of this..."

The medic was about to protest but, seeing Gesar's resolve, bowed in acknowledgement. "As you wish."

Helping Kardos into the car, Gesar motioned Anton to drive. Anton knew what he meant. Picking up the faint trace, he pulled out of the driveway and headed out onto the main road.

After about ten minutes Kardos said. "This is serious."

Anton almost laughed. "I should think someone trying to kill you would be!"

Gesar interjected. "No Anton. The destination of that house was just one of a number I could have given you. So to have someone on hand to..."

"To try to kill me..." continued Kardos ".. then they had to have someone on the inside...at all of them."

"You mean...?"

"The safe-house network has been compromised."

Anton continued to drive, aware of what that could mean the next time any of them may need help...

* * *

Sveta dropped back out of the Twilight after another unsuccessful hunt. Zabulons signature was just too erratic to follow, dropping in and out of the Twilight seemingly at random. It was also time to go back home, to settle Nadya down for the night and gather food supplies to take to Olga.

Once her chores were done she dropped back in to the greyness carrying enough to last Olga many days. The trapped Light one couldn't cook in there, so it all had to be edible raw, but fortunately food didn't decay. Not usually.

"Olga, I'm back." called Sveta. She couldn't help seeing the oily green tinge to the mists surrounding her.

Olga appeared, thanked Sveta and began to devour the food. "I'm sorry..." she mumbled between mouthfuls "….but the last lot didn't keep and If I don't eat this quickly it will go off as well.."

Sveta was perturbed. "You haven't eaten for three days?"

Olga waved her hand "Its okay, you didn't know, and I've gone longer that that in the past with no harm." She reached for an apple, took a large bite an spat it out in disgust. Sveta looked inside the core, it was writhing in maggots.

"I'm sorry I thought it was a fresh one.."

"It was...watch."

Sveta looked at the rest of the food that Olga laid out on the floor. Within minutes they all began to show signs of rotting, within ten the whole lot had turned to a putrid mush. Sveta felt her stomach turn over, but Olga just sighed. "I was just enjoying that as well".

"I..I'll fetch more..." Sveta motioned to leave, but Olga stopped her.

"Tomorrow or the day after will do, I'm fine for now. I wish I knew why it's happening though."

Sveta felt chilled as she told Olga what had happened down on the fifth level, all the time Olga's face darken, her frown deepened.

"It's true isn't it?" asked Sveta, already knowing the answer.

"The seals must have... I don't know... denied the Twilight its food or something. Someone said it was feeding when all the Others were disappearing." Olga looked at the rancid food, just a stain on the floor an indicator of where it had been. "I didn't believe them, now I'm not so sure...And this.." she passed her hand through the sickly fog "...hasn't looked right for some time now...and its getting worse."

"I have to get back, to tell someone.."

"Who is there left to tell? Most of us are in the same boat."

Sveta shivered. "I have to do something, I made a promise..."

Olga looked at Sveta with a sad expression on her face. "It might already be too late."

"I still have to try." Sveta turned around. "I have to go, I'll be back tomorrow with more food and news."

"I'd appreciate it, it gets awfully lonely in here."

"You watch out for yourself, in case he comes back..."

"He wont be back...I'm not important enough. No, Zabulon has other places to be, I'm fine for now."

Sveta didn't voice the rest of her doubts, but said her goodbyes and exited the Twilight.

Emerging back in her own home, the phone was ringing. Lifting the receiver she spoke. "Hello?"

"Sveta, this is Ilya, come to the hospital, it's Semyon, he's awake..."

* * *

"How is he?" Sveta asked.

"He's a little confused, but his vital signs are all good." answered Ignat. "He's asked to see you."

Sveta smiled as she entered the ward, almost crying in relief. Semyon was sat reading a book and his face lit up when he saw her. "Sveta my dear, how good to see you!"

"Semyon..." she couldn't say any more, just hugged him tightly.

"Oh I say, what is all the affection for?" Semyon seemed genuinely taken aback.

"I truly thought you were going to die Sem, so many of the Watch have gone..."

"Gone? The Watch? Who are they?"

"The Watch, you remember, Anton, Boris, Olga..." She saw his face become a blank.

Ignat cleared his throat. "Sveta... Semyon doesn't remember."

"None of them?" she said slowly backing away. "But he remembered me..."

"Yes, but he doesn't remember them, or me, he doesn't even remember being an Other...Sveta, Semyon thinks he's a human again..."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Out of fifteen awake so far, all of them have complete memory loss", Ignat chucked the last patient chart onto the desk.

"But why does Semyon remember me?" Sveta looked frustrated. "Why no one else?"

"When the seals were set, you had him in a shield, you were linked to him." Ilya picked up the discarded medical records and began to file them away. Ignat paced slowly, transparent scales shedding as he moved.

"But so were you Ilya. You were linked to him to."

"No, Sveta, I was linked to you, not to him, we all were in that room. Obviously some sort of memory from you must have leached across and stayed."

"So what do we do now then?"

Ilya shrugged. Sveta looked towards Ignat, who did the same.

"Surely there's something..."

"If we knew how, we would."

"I wonder if its because..."

She then related her recent experiences in the Twilight. Ignat looked horrified. Ilya shook his head. "Its possible I suppose, the link that Others have to the Twilight must be weakening. There isn't anyway I can check though. I'll send a message through to the other Watches, if anyone is able they can devise a way, and maybe a cure?"

"I doubt the cure bit, I think we know the answer to that one ourselves." Suddenly Ilya spun round and flung the files in his hand, scattering the paperwork across the room. "What's the point? Why am I bothering with this, no ones left to care about it!"

Sveta looked stunned but Ignat just quietly bent and picked up the documents from the floor. "Forgive him for that little outburst, he's been having mood swings of late, coupled with the lack of sleep..."

"Ilya, are you not sleeping again?" she asked. But Ignat continued.

"A lot of us aren't Sveta, the insomnia is coming back...and getting worse...for the sealed ones."

Sveta said nothing, but her look of pity made Ignat wince. "No, don't feel sorry for us Sveta, just get out there and do what you can...for all our sakes."...

* * *

As the car pulled up along the riverside, the three men got out. Looking around Anton declared "The trail ends here, somewhere. I can't pinpoint it exactly."

"Why here I wonder." said Gesar as he looked up. Towering above them was the large girders of the London Eye, the largest Ferris wheel in Europe.

Kardos was looking behind them, at a tall building, some twenty-five stories high or more. Gesturing with his head towards the tower block, he said "In here perhaps?"

"Possibly." said Anton, but he wasn't sure. There were numerous buildings nearby, and he couldn't find a trail from any of them. "It'll be a good spot to get our bearings from at least." He hastily hid the car, knowing it shouldn't be there, and followed the other two men. Once inside the building they took the lift to the top floor, climbing the stairs to an observation deck above that. They had a clear view of the Eye as it lazily turned with its tourist occupants. Gesar indicated to Anton towards the egg shaped carriages but he shook his head. No sign.

Spending the next hour intensely concentrating, Anton scoured the area, but could find nothing. Kardos spent the time smiling at the human tourists near them, who all had the sudden urge to be somewhere else. Soon the deck area was empty apart from themselves.

Gesar asked "Found anything yet?"

Anton shook his head. "Not yet" he answered.

Kardos snored in disgust. "Lets go, we're wasting time here."

"Wait!" said Anton. He sensed something. "We have company..."

Gesar tensed. "Who Anton...?"

Kardos pointed down to the waterfront. "Its that man there isn't it?"

"How do you know?"

"Gut feeling. And thousands of years of watching my own back. It's Zabulon."

"But..."

"I don't need to sense him to know, he's looking directly at us..." It was true, the man was looking directly at them and smirking. It sent a chill down Anton's spine. "He's been looking this way for a while...he was sat over there..." the Inquisitor pointed over by the wheel. "I thought he was just a tourist at first, with an unusual fixation on this building..." Kardos sneered. "He's jumped me once, he wont do it again."

"What's to stop him?" Gesar followed the man as he headed towards the building. "Anton can't draw on power here, its too dangerous. It'll show where we are, like a huge beacon to Robert, who is bound to feel anything Anton does this close."

"Fuck..." Kardos swore. "Still, I'll not let him take me again."

"Should we leave?" Anton gestured towards the stairs.

"No good, only one set of stairs up or down."

"Portal away?"

"Not now! Not this close!" Kardos almost raged at the idea, and Anton knew that the Inquisitor didn't just mean Zabulon. "Can you draw enough to shield him without it being obvious?"

Anton shrugged. "I doubt it, but I might be able to neutralise anything he tries, but I could only draw from us here, any further and it would be seen. But I don't know if it would be strong enough to last long..."

"I wouldn't need long." The feral grin on Kardos's face chilled Anton.

"We'll soon know..." said Gesar, pointing down to the ground, "..he's just entered the building."

"Anton, stand at the side of the entrance, Gesar and I will stand in full view, hopefully it'll distract him for a moment." Kardos took off his glasses and began cleaning the one intact lens. "He will either try to rush us or send some power before him, trying to catch us off guard. Lets give him the chance."

Anton was just glad the look on Kardos's face wasn't aimed at him...

* * *

Zabulon stood at the bottom of the observation decks stairway, drawing power gradually so as not to draw attention to himself. It was easy here, there was a low, but palpable miasma of fear from the tourists on the wheel. He scoffed. If they were afraid of heights they shouldn't be riding the thing. But then he of all people understood the thrill of fear.

The ecstasy of it...

He could hear their voices above him. They sounded agitated... good. He wanted them to know who was bringing their demise. A small seed of doubt irritated the back of his mind, but he ignored it.

So then, the best way to do this... he pondered different scenarios as he climbed the stairs. Gesar and Kardos were no threat, impotent of power. He felt confident enough to eliminate them with one blow, he wouldn't even need magic. Anton however, that was a different matter. Magically he couldn't touch him. Physically, well Anton was a young man, in his prime and strong enough to overpower this human form. But would he be willing to use his new, strange power in retaliation? And be in danger of alerting Robert? Zabulon doubted it.

He began to cast off the human form, swelling to his full, demonic size, and tried to guess at their positioning in the room. Kardos would be centre, the egotistical bastard wouldn't stand for anything less. Gesar was the same... Anton...?

He reached the top stair, and lunged. His guess was true. In a shout of victory he grabbed Anton by the throat and lifted him off his feet. Kardos and Gesar leaped forward and were smashed back by Zabulon's other free, massive arm. Anton struggled, gasping for air. He balled his hands into a fist and struck the Dark one full force on the nose. Zabulon laughed as a small trickle of blood oozed from his nostrils.

"You couldn't give me enough pain to drop you, boy." he gloated.

Anton tried again, but his strength was fading. Zabulon began to laugh maniacally, forgetting about the other two. Kardos dragged himself to his feet and, enraged, aimed a huge kick into Zabulon's groin. Zabulon's face suddenly turned to surprise as the immense, almost erotic, pain shot through him. His gripped loosened for a moment as Kardos grabbed Zabulon's leg and executed a perfect judo throw to the ground.

"Demons have gonads to!" he yelled, kicking Zabulon a second time as the apoplectic demon rose to his feet.

Gesar yanked Anton free of Zabulon's grip and dragged him away. He didn't need power to feel the crackle of building energy surrounding the fighting pair. "Now Anton, neutralise him!" he shouted, gripping Anton's face, willing his life force into him.

Sucking in lungfuls of air, Anton began to weave, the threads began to wrap invisibly around Zabulon. Gesar staggered but held on, sweat flooding from his face. Kardos continued to pound the Dark one with increasing skill, blows so fast the lumbering form couldn't return them. Dropping to his knees Zabulon roared and released an immense fireball of energy...which didn't appear. Howling with rage he began to fling spell after spell into nothingness.

Kardos stepped back and watched the helpless display of frustration with great satisfaction. He turned to Anton just in time to see him jerking Gesar's hands away from his head and the former Light leader slump to the floor. Anton was shaking violently, his own energy used up as well. He glanced at the prone figure. "Oh...no...I...think I...killed him..." Anton whispered.

Kardos felt Gesars wrist for a pulse. "No, he's alive. If this demon bastard had fought a moment longer he might have been though."

Zabulon screamed in frustration but stayed kneeling on the floor. Without immediate power, even in such a large frame, he was still no match for Kardos's fighting tricks.

Kardos began to walk slowly around Zabulon, looking relax but every sense wired, every muscle taut and ready to spring again. Zabulon watched him circling and for a split second thought of a vulture. It was a disconcerting thought.

"You didn't jump me that time, did you, you bastard." Kardos said, his light hearted tone all the more menacing. "Did you really think I learned nothing from nearly ten thousand years of life? I know every type of martial arts in the world, plus some that have long been forgotten. Without power I still live, without power you are nothing!" He spat on the floor by Zabulon's legs. "I could kill you with a flick of my finger, despite your size. I could make you feel pain for the rest of your life...imagine that, millennia long suffering... but then you'd enjoy that, wouldn't you...?"

Zabulon just stared. Without the use of power he realised Kardos was right, he was completely outclassed by the Inquisitor, and cursed himself for not foreseeing such a glaring oversight. 'You can only prepare for so much..' the thought fermented like bile in his brain.

"Now then..." Kardos continued. "...its time we were going." He turned to Anton. "Is it still secured?" He thumbed a gesture at the Dark one. Zabulon bristled, hating being referred to as 'it'.

Anton nodded. "But Gesar is in no state to move... And...I'm not strong enough to carry him yet."

"And I need my hands free for that bastard. Stand up..." Kardos ordered Zabulon, who reacted and stood before he even realised. "You are going to have to carry him."

"What!" Zabulon almost bolted until Kardos struck him a stinging blow across his face.

"You WILL carry him."

"Idiot...looking like this? How far do you think we would get!" Zabulon could hardly contain his rage, but knowing to strike out at the little man would probably mean his death.

"Anton, have you got enough energy to disguise him? Only to outside observers though. I want to see him as he is, easier to find if he tries to make a run for it."

Anton nodded and cast the spell. Zabulon shimmered for a moment but stayed the same. "We can see him..." Anton replied, leaving the rest unsaid.

Kardos nodded and indicated for Zabulon to pick up Gesar. Seething, Zabulon snatched up the Light one and unceremoniously flung him over his shoulder. Gesar murmured something unintelligible as he hung like a rag doll before passing out fully again. Kardos checked Gesar and when satisfied, moved towards the stairs.

Anton suddenly reeled. It felt like a massive backdraft of power flooded over him. All his senses screamed of danger. His soul felt ripped from his body and, glancing briefly through the Twilight, the diamond in his chest was spinning so fast it blurred, cracking with an intensity he hadn't seen.

"Wait!" He managed to shout just as an enormous buffeting shook the building, followed a fraction of a second later by a gut wrenching thud.

Rushing over to the observation window, Kardos spat... "Gentlemen, it seems we have been lead into a trap..."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The sounds of screaming broke the sudden silence. Then metal, scraping, buckling, high pitched pinging sounds. A cable slashed against the decking pillars, just missing Kardos's head by inches. More screams, and running feet. Anton watched the wheel with morbid fascination as slowly the massive legs began to detach themselves just a few feet below the axis. The whole structure began to buckle, the damaged support struts cantilevering backwards, away from their designed angle, back towards the building. Anton just caught a glimpse of the terrified faces in the pods, frantically clinging on, knowing there was nothing they could do.

"RUN!" yelled Kardos, bolting for the stairs.

"We've got to help!" shouted Anton, running after him.

"We can't, this isn't some second-rate super hero movie ...that thing is aimed for us!"

Rushing for the exit, Zabulon was running hard, panting with his extra load, Gesar swinging uncomfortably from his shoulder. He hit the bottom of the stairs first, to find the lift was gone. Cursing loudly they took to the long stairwell, the sound of agonised metal growing louder by the moment.

The wheel struck, the tremendous percussion force threw them down the stairs. Zabulon dropped Gesar and shielded him with his body as the ceiling caved in. The noise was deafening, dust and shattered masonry cascaded around them. Kardos and Anton landed in a heap further down, narrowly missed by a steel bar which came slamming through the wreckage. Bricks and chunks of stone bounced off them, Anton cowered, trying to cover his head from the blows. One of the pods wedged in the opening above and stopped just a few feet over them, the occupants mangled, pressed against the cracked glass windows of the carriage. Bloody droplets rained down, coating them in a sticky ichor.

Anton stared up, frozen, at the dead faces which he felt looked at him accusingly. 'I'm sorry' he thought as Kardos urged them on, away from the devastated top of the building, which was still shifting and lurching under the weight of the wheel.

Zabulon was muttering something under his breath, Gesar bouncing along under his arm where the Dark one had scooped him back up. Kardos heard him and panted a reply. "You... really think... he was going... to go down easy... without a... fight?"

Anton realised that Zabulon was no longer neutralised, but hadn't realised yet. He had also seen the Demon protect Gesar. It was no surprise, they had a common enemy now.

There was another thud, somewhere below them, and the building shuddered violently. Looking up, Kardos watched as the vibrations shook the remains of the wheel lower with dust and detritus raining down. "MOVE IT!" he yelled.

The whole building seemed to be heaving beneath their feet, choking dust from above, and now coiling, insidious smoke from below. 'We're not suppose to get out of this' Anton thought, as they plunged on down the stairs, and he called to Kardos. He felt a tingle in his chest, power being drawn, his type.

"We have to portal out!"

"No!...We'll lose him again!"

The building lurched as the lower floors began to crumble. Another explosion, muffled, as though deep underground. The smoke thickened, visibility dropped to nothing, acridity burn his lungs and felt like daggers in his eyes. "We have to!" Anton shouted over the noise, desperately trying to stay upright. "Just outside of here...not far!"

Kardos cursed again, and began coughing on the rising plumes of smoke. He nodded, unable to speak. Anton drew minimal power, opened as small a portal as he could and pushed Kardos through, grabbing Zabulon's arm he pulled him and Gesar through with him, tumbling out onto the pavement as the portal slammed shut.

The scene was carnage. The portal deposited them at the base of the wheel. The area was strewn with rubble and bodies. More masonry was falling from the now blazing building they had just escaped from. The base of the wheel itself had crushed into the ground as it had fallen against the building, the lower pod type gondolas crushed into the cobbled surface. Anton glanced up to see people trying to escape from the middle carriages, as yet untouched, but in danger of being roasted by the flames, cooked in miniature ovens. Kardos grabbed his shoulder just as he felt a now familiar tingle.

"Wait..." said Anton. "He's drawing power again..."

"We've got to go!" Kardos jerked his away, but Anton stopped him. "No, it's okay...he's... just left. He's portalled...he's gone."

Kardos pounded the ground with his fist."So close, so fucking close!" he cursed.

Sirens began to approach. Zabulon looked round, then dumped Gesar hard on the floor. "Well, that's my queue to leave..." he sneered "..Until the next time...". He opened a portal and rapidly disappeared.

Anton turned to Kardos. "That's an improvement. He could have killed us a number of times over then, no one would have noticed around here." He despaired at the mess. "Such a waste...all those poor people, and for nothing..."

"Zabulon is slipping...but that will be the last chance he gets." Kardos grimaced as he stooped to lift Gesar by the arm. "It wasn't for nothing though, now we know how far that Neutral bastard will go to get what he wants. And what we are going to have to do, be prepared to do, to stop him."

Anton took the other arm of the still unconscious Light one, opened a portal and they stepped through...

* * *

As the portal to his office closed behind Zabulon, he winced. That damned Inquisitor had inflicted more damage than he would ever admit to in front of them. Reaching for a medi-kit he cracked a vial of a painkilling drug, filled a syringe and injected himself in his left thigh. Throwing the needle across the room he hobbled around, waiting for it to take effect. Dropping into his usual human form, Zabulon opened the door to his private washroom. Running a sink of cold water, he splashed his face, clearing his mind with the shock of the chilly liquid. He watched the water turn pink as drops of blood from his battered nose dripped and dissipated into it. Opening up a wall cabinet he took out a bottle of Iodine and, using a cotton wool ball, dabbed it on the cuts around his face, the stinging slowly dulling as the effects of the injection kicked in.

He thought about trying to heal himself, but he found he was fascinated by the sensations, now no longer blurring his concentration. It was never his strong point anyhow, he preferred to inflict the damage, not fix it afterwards.

Cleaned and patched up, Zabulon sat at his desk, opening the draw that contained a bottle of Bourbon and a glass. He poured a large shot and downed it in one. Turning off the ringer on his phone he sat back in the chair. There was a lot to think about, a disturbance now was the last thing he needed.

He had be betrayed, that much was obvious, but how to pay that betrayal back. The insider was probably working for all sides at once, selling out to the highest bidder. But he had received good information in the past and, strangely enough from him, didn't want to take direct revenge...yet.

Robert. The man was insane. All the more reason to take him out. But now he'd lost his chance of an easy find. That Dark-damned Anton was alerted now, Kardos... Zabulon snarled to himself... Had already earned a slow and incredibly painful death. He smashed his fist onto the desk, knocking the empty glass over. It galled him that he still needed them. He couldn't take a Neutral on his own, even Anton, as weak as he still was, made the Dark leaders power look like a breeze against a hurricane. Robert was much, much worse.

Grabbing the bottle, he drained the contents directly then slammed the empty bottle in the bin. No, some other approach was necessary, but Zabulon was at a loss what to do next...and he hated it, the feeling was becoming too much of a regular thing...

* * *

Kardos was pacing the floor again, his office at Inquisition HQ was in disarray. Gesar, trembling slightly and a blanket draped around his shoulders, cradled a cup of hot coffee in his hands. Anton was silent, he couldn't help replaying the scene over and over in his mind. "All those dead people..." he said.

"Stop it!" snapped Kardos. "There's going to be a lot more before this is all over." He rummaged briefly through some loose papers on his desk. "We need to start searching again."

"Where?" croaked Gesar. "Its taken you a millennia to find him the first time."

Kardos smiled, the feral look back again. "This time, I have an advantage." He looked over at Anton.

Gesar scoffed. "He's just one man Kardos, he cant search an entire world."

"No...but there is something he can do." Kardos found a piece of paper with a list on it. "I can use that power of his on something else."

Anton clenched his fists. "Not if it means doing the same as Robert did..."

"Oh you wont be killing anyone, not innocents at least." Kardos held up the paper. "I have a list here of the prisoners we have in the cells. There is a number of condemned Others on here, from a nasty business well over a century ago. We kept them in limbo as a 'suicide squad', but we never needed them."

Gesar looked shocked. "You cant do that!"

Kardos looked surprised. "Cant I? These people were tried and sentenced to dissolution, their lives are forfeit for the good of Others now. I didn't think you would have any qualms, seeing as they are all Dark ones." He waved the paper again. "They might not die, but you. Anton, need a power supply for what I have in mind. What better, the lives of the guilty."

"I wont do it!"

"Oh don't be stupid man, each one of these is a mass murderer, unredeemable. This is a chance for them to at least give something back. You'll be doing them a favour..."

Gesar shook his head. "I hate the idea...but maybe he's right. We need to hear what he has in mind first though."

"Very good!" Kardos smiled, and whisked a box from a nearby shelf. "Inside here are some old artefacts, long since used up. I want Anton to recharge them with the ability to detect Neutral power. I can then give them to the few Inquisitors who are not sealed to carry on the search. We can cover a vast amount of ground that way."

"And what if I refuse?" Anton stood and, a good six inches taller than the Master Inquisitor, looked down on him.

"If you don't, you'll never be Light again." Kardos replied.

* * *

It was dim in the corridor, the flickering lights giving an almost ethereal atmosphere. Anton felt the chill, Gesar seemed to ignore it, he was more interested in the place Kardos had taken them to. It was deep under Inquisition headquarters. Either side of them, heavy metal doors, locked, lined the walls. The whole place smelled of disuse, echo's travelled far in the quietness, a fine layer of dust kicked up by their passing footsteps.

"We use to call this the holding pens." Kardos said, his voice strangely out of place in the oppressive silence. "They haven't been used for a long time, not since the war."

"That long?" said Gesar. "But the building above doesn't look that old?"

Anton guessed they were not talking about the human's world wars.

Kardos replied. "It isn't, it was built on the foundations of the older one, and the one before that. These were here originally..." he gestured to the corridor "...when I formed the first Inquisition."

Anton shuddered. "That's old.."

Kardos burst out laughing. "I was already ancient by then..." Then he became sombre. "Now you know why this is so important to me... why I need to..." he couldn't continue.

Gesar put his hand on Kardos's shoulder. "I know." he said. Kardos nodded and they continued walking, while their flickering shadows followed.

They reached a larger door. Kardos pulled out a key that looked too new for the rusty lock on the door. But it turned smoothly. Entering the chamber behind the door, Kardos reached up and flicked a switch. A florescent light strip blinked into life, illuminating a large room that seemed completely out of place compared to the corridor outside.

About 10 meters squared, steel, slab-like beds, surrounded the walls. Some of them were occupied.

"Welcome to the last resting place of the gang who called themselves 'The Eternals'". Kardos walked to the centre of the room and placed the box of artefacts down on a table that stood there.

Anton looked around. He could detect a faint hint of the power used to encase the individuals on the beds. The one nearest to him, a woman, looked young, almost too young to be an Other. He bent over to take a closer look.

"Whoa!" Kardos shouted. "Be careful there... the spell holding these is old, I don't know what your kind of power will do to the shields around them if you get too close. And the last thing anyone would want is this lot running loose again."

Anton backed up quickly. "But what did she do? She looks so..."

"Innocent? That one caused the genocide of an entire country."

"What?"

"Long story... needless to say, there are six of them here, each of them have killed millions. When they were found guilty all Others were desperately trying to survive against a human uprising." Kardos spat on the floor. "This lot nearly destroyed us all. And you have qualms about using them? You, who have killed yourself in the past?"

Anton winced. "So why keep them here, alive then?"

"We...had a policy at the time. An Other could not take the life of another of his kind. If they did not volunteer to dissolution we couldn't force them. I also thought that, one day, I might have a use for them. Like I said before, as a type of suicide squad. I never envisaged how useful they are going to be until now though." Kardos stared down at the prone figures. "How times have changed..." He began taking the artefacts out of the box. "I set the spells that hold them here. It wasn't a kindness, believe me. I...was a little cruel when I set them. I left them fully aware, they can hear everything we say, they are totally aware of the passage of time. Unable to move, or say anything. No stimulus to occupy their minds, just left to think about the crimes they committed forever...the true meaning of 'Eternal'"

Gesar gasped. "They will be insane by now!"

"And that's why I said you would be doing them a favour."

Anton looked at them all again. "Tell me, don't you feel guilty about the things you have done sometimes?"

"Sometimes...but after what they did...I would do it all again...gladly..."

* * *

Authors note... I plan to do a story on 'The Eternals' one day, so you can find out just exactly what it was they DID do... but now is not the time….


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Anton was just completing the twenty first artefact as the last of the Eternal gang gasped a shuddering breath and died. The five before him had already faded away into the Twilight. Auto dissolution upon death, Anton had seen it before, but it still gave him the creeps, he had been too close to it himself on more than one occasion. And these had faded away fast, unlike the time it usually took, but the sentence pronounced on them had still existed interweaved with the spell that bound them. Kardos nodded as each one disappeared, in acknowledgement of their passing, then went back to his brooding silence, a look of concentration on his face.

"I might be a bastard at times, but they were still like us long ago.." was all he would say.

"Like you, but not like me." Anton muttered back, as he handed the artefacts to Kardos. "I've done what I can. These will let any Other feel Neutral magic being cast from a distance, but they wont be able to pinpoint where. They will send a signal to me though, so I can come and investigate."

"Can they not track him as well?"

"A little, but again not accurately, I'm sorry, I've never made anything like this before, and I was trying to power up as many as I could before...before..."

Gesar put his hand on Anton's shoulder. "You've done well..."

"Yes...thank you." Kardos replied, looking a little distracted. "I've been thinking...something just doesn't add up."

"What?"

"How can Robert use portals if he's afraid to go into the Twilight?"

Anton considered it a moment. "I don't think he needs the Twilight, it seems I don't." Gesar raised his eyebrows, Anton continued. "Because I'm drawing life force directly, Neutral portalling bypasses the need for the Twilight, the first time I did it I knew it felt different, I've just realised why."

"That would explain why he can move about so quickly then!" Kardos sounded as though it was a revelation to him. "I always wondered how he always got away from me so fast! I had assumed he couldn't portal if he wouldn't go into the Twilight. I thought he just used one of his associates to do it for him when needed..."

"That makes the job of catching him that little bit harder then." Gesar added. "It also explains why he wants to destroy it, he doesn't need it...but the rest of us do."

Kardos sneered. "I still don't believe the bullshit story he gave you Anton, although we'll monitor the number of Others born for years yet, just to make sure. No, he's got some other agenda, some other reason for not fixing what he 'made', not finishing what he started...something deep in..."

"I've only been on the first level since...being Neutral. I don't know what would happen if I went deeper." Anton thought about it. "What if he 'made' me to take his place?"

"I suggest you don't try going in to find out." Gesar scratch his head. "It's complicated enough as it is."

Kardos frowned just as the last of the corpses faded away. Nodding he said "We are done here, time to go. I'm going to take these somewhere safe until I can get the searchers together. I suggest you two go back to your homes and get some rest until you're needed next time."

"Ah, so we're dismissed then?" said Gesar.

"Idiot." said Kardos, but the humour in the voice was unmistakable. He left them alone in the now empty chamber.

Gesar seemed to sag. "Take us back Anton, if you can."

Anton shook his head. "Sorry Boris, its a bit too far without drawing from someone. I think we're going to have to fly again."

Gesar sighed. "At least it should be more comfortable than his private plane!"

* * *

Back at Light Headquarters, Gesar slumped onto his day bed. The summer evening had long since turned to night outside, the faint sounds of the nocturnal traffic drifted up to the open window. Anton poured him a glass of brandy and a second for himself. Passing the drink to Gesar, Anton drank his in one gulp. Gesar sipped, watching the wood-smoke coloured liquid as it approached his lips.

Neither man spoke for a while, then Anton said "Kardos was right you know...I've been thinking about it. I've been lied to, and I hate that at the best of times..."

"Relax for a bit, Anton, get another drink, you've earned it..."

Anton looked at Gesar sceptically. "Your not exactly innocent in all this either, you know?"

Gesar's eyebrow raised. "Oh? As if I knew..."

"No, I meant agreeing to Zabulon's initial plan. What you did to me...it left me wide open to be sucked in by Robert."

"Anton, I didn't know, yes I used you, but I thought it was best at the time. And if you didn't survive it, I couldn't miss the opportunity to take so many items of power out of commission from the Dark ones. I was thinking of all the future lives it would save in the long term."

"Egor was already Dark, you didn't need me." Bitterness clung to Anton's voice. "And although I agree with Kardos, I cant help but hate the bastard, he was behind at least some of this..."

"Anton? What has brought on this mood, you were fine when we left the airport?"

Anton refilled and drained his glass in one swift movement. "I don't know. It was when we came up here, it made me feel so...useless...just simply climbing the stairs and watching you unlock the door, fumbling with the key, when normally its all done with a wave of the hand. Even seeing you just sat there...I feel such a pawn, an abused tool, in all this. I never asked to be a freak!" He waved his hands at his torso, swaying slightly. Putting the glass carefully back onto the desk he declared. "That brandy is strong stuff, I really need a coffee right now."

Anton's whole body stiffened, a look of intense realisation flashed in his eyes. He was so preoccupied he hadn't noticed. The faint trace of odour in the air, the tingling backwash of used power. A glance through the Twilight showed the diamond in his chest spinning lazily.

"He's here!" he hissed through his teeth.

Gesar stood up. "In this building?"

All of Anton senses were on fire, alert. "No...but he's here...Robert is in Moscow!"

* * *

Sveta opened the door quietly, checking the strong wards she had left for signs of disturbance. The hall was dark, but it was late, Mrs Skovich would have gone to bed in the spare room by now. Sighing, Sveta tossed hers keys onto the hall table, and slowly peeled off her jacket. Between visiting Olga in the dying Twilight, Semyon in the hospital, and aiding other ailing Light watch members where she could, it felt as though there were not enough hours in a day to get everything done. Already exhausted, she had all but given up her search for Zabulon, which left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Entering the kitchen, Sveta turned on the percolator and ladled in spoonfuls of her favourite blend. The coffee needed to be strong tonight. Pouring the brew, she reached for the biscuit tin and ladled a handful out onto a plate. Watching the steam rise from the mug she couldn't help thinking fleetingly of Olga. Taking the mug of steaming beverage and platter of cookies into the lounge she saw a shape on the settee. The lumpy form had a familiar shape. Mrs Skovich had nodded off waiting for her to return. Sveta went to shake her gently to wake her, but at the sound of a little snore from the elderly woman, Sveta smiled and, with a blanket taken from a nearby cupboard, covered her.

Sitting in the armchair she sipped from the mug, nibbling hungrily at the biscuits. Very soon both were gone, and she looked forlornly at the empty crockery. Yawning and stretching, she left them on the chair until morning and loped wearily off to bed. Passing Nadya's room Sveta saw the door was open by a tiny sliver. She looked in silently on her daughter.

The bed was empty.

Tiredness confusing her brain a little, Sveta entered the room, looking around for Nadya. It took a few moments for the situation to sink in. She was gone. "Nadya?" she called, "...are you here honey?" But there was no answer. Her worry growing, she checked all of Nadya's favourite hiding places in case she had fallen asleep while playing. But they were all bare. She searched for the little girls aura but its absence fuelled her growing dread. Trembling, Sveta looked through the Twilight to see if her daughter had gone in. There was no trace.

She started to panic, but remembered the wards were intact, no one had been inside her home who shouldn't have been. Sveta raced back down stairs and began to shake Mrs Skovich awake. The old woman didn't move. Terrified now, Sveta began to shake the woman more violently, she still didn't wake. Racing to the kitchen Sveta filled a pitcher with water and flung it on Mrs Skovich, who just let out another small snore; She still didn't wake. Sveta screamed. The woman was under a sleep spell, but there was no sign of power anywhere in the house, the wards were undisturbed, the house untouched. But her daughter was still gone.

Almost hyperventilating, she tried to find a trace of Nadya, there was nothing, it was as if she had disappeared off the face of the earth. And there was no one else around to help her...

No...she could sense Gesar...and if he was back, then so must be Anton...she hoped. Desperately she formed a portal straight to Gesar, praying silently to what ever gods existed to keep her little girl safe from harm...

* * *

"…..in Moscow!" As the words left Anton's lips a portal opened up in front of Gesar. He leaped back, startled and shocked by its sudden appearance. Sveta flung herself through, keeping it open behind her. Flicking her gaze round she saw Anton, her face crumpled and the tears began to flow. Throwing her arms around him she couldn't speak for a moment, the shock and fear evident throughout her whole being.

"Sveta? Sveta what is it?" Anton gasped, stroking her hair and holding her, trying to calm her. Sveta looked up into his eyes, the sheer misery of her soul reflected back at him.

"Nadya...Nadya's gone..."

He felt himself grow cold. Looking at Gesar and still holding Sveta, he stepped back through the portal, Gesar followed, just making it through before it closed behind him.

The smell hit Anton like a wave. "I smell coffee." He said.

Sveta sobbed. "I had a cup when I got home...before I ...found..."

Gesar shook his head and looked grim. "He's not referring to that, Sveta."

She looked puzzled, but stayed quiet. Anton surveyed the lounge. He saw Mrs Skovich still asleep on the settee, the soaked blanket clinging to the prone form. He could see the spell on her, could feel the threads. Neutral power. Waving his hands he broke the enchantment. As the last bits fell away from the old woman, she sat bolt upright and screamed. Sveta rushed over and clasped her shoulders.

"What happened? Where's Nadya?"

Mrs Skovich looked dazed. "There was a man...he just walked in...I thought he was...one of you...as you said the place was guarded, only friends could get in. He...he said not to worry... he said he wanted to see Anton..."

"Did he say where? When? Think...did he say anything else?"

Shaking her head to clear it Mrs Skovich said "No, he just said I should take a nap...and then everything went blank..." she began to cry. "I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything..."

Sveta hugged her tightly, her own tears blinding her, rocking the distraught woman like she had her own baby just days before. "It's alright, its alright, you didn't know, shhhh its alright..."

Anton, a cold anger growing deep inside, began to search the house for clues. The whole building was saturated with residual power. Nadya's room had the unmistakable traces of a closed portal in it...his kind of portal. He shuddered, fear pouring from him. Nadya was the most powerful Other ever created...and totally powerless against Neutrality.

Gesar entered the room behind him and almost yelled out when he saw the look in Anton's eyes. They were shining, a brilliant yet grey hue which seemed to engulf the room. Feeling the draining force emanating from him, Gesar stayed back. Anton looked at him, and with a voice ancient in guise he spoke. "Tell Kardos I've found Robert. Tell him that the bastards got his way, I'm going in for him...I need my daughter back...he's gone too far this time...its time to finish this for good..."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Lying in the darkness, Ilya glanced across at the alarm clock, its red, illuminated numbers shining out almost in mockery. 3.32 am. The sleeping tablets had worn off too soon again, he'd only managed four hours sleep this time, but at least it was something. He knew there was no point in trying to get back to sleep, and a second dose of pills only made him feel nauseous.

Getting up, he padded along the landing, past the spare room where Ignat was staying. He heard movement. Tapping lightly on the door, Ilya said "Ignat, are you awake?"

The door opened. "I haven't been to sleep..." Ignat frowned. "Pills don't work for me."

"Need anything?"

Ignat looked down at the floor, a forlorn expression on his face. "Probably a dust pan and brush for these scales I keep shedding. Sorry, but it wont be for much longer, they are nearly all gone."

Ilya could see the exposed areas of his skin were almost denuded of the tiny prisms that gave Ignat his uniqueness. Underneath the waxy flesh looked sore, despite its milky, almost blue, colouring. Strangely without them though, if you discounted the unusual skin tone, he looked almost human. The only thing that remained were his eyes, the cat-like irises looking downcast.

"Cheer up." said Ilya, trying to force some optimism into his voice. "You'll soon be able to go outside, all you'll need is sunglasses or contact lenses and no one would know."

"I know..." Ignat sighed. "But by the time all my scales will have gone, I'll be too tired to go anywhere."

Ilya frowned. "Do you want me to see if the medics have anything stronger for tonight?"

"If you could, and if it's okay with them, I think I'll miss volunteering today, I just can't face it.."

"Ignat, you've enjoyed helping at the hospital, don't start giving it all up now."

"I still want to, but I'm just too tired!" The normally placid Ignat snapped back at Ilya. "I'm old, too old, for all this...I heard somewhere once that if the human brain doesn't get any sleep for eleven days it shuts down and the whole body dies. How long is it for an Other? It's been nine days with no sleep at all so far...Ilya, I'm starting to hallucinate! I'm seeing ghosts of dead Others walking through the walls!"

Ilya looked alarmed. "Why didn't you say! I could have gotten you help earlier!...You silly, stubborn old fool, I would have..." He froze in mid sentence. Something floated by him, an unformed column of mist, and then another, smaller, but clearly, if vaguely, human shaped.

Ignat flung the door open wide. "I can see them now!" He wailed.

"You're not hallucinating, I can see them to!" Ilya yelled back. Now he had seen one he couldn't help but notice more passing by, some complete, some just suggestions of a form. None of them seemed to see the two dumbstruck Others, or even acknowledge they existed.

"Something is wrong, something is seriously wrong." said Ilya, reaching for the phone.

"Who you gonna call, Ghostbusters?" Ignat almost joked, feeling a little better that it wasn't just him losing his mind.

"No, Boris, if he's in. I don't know what else to do..."

* * *

Kardos stood like a rock in the centre of Gesar's office. Gesar had sent Sveta to fetch him as soon as Anton left to find Nadya. She had fumed and raged at him, but knew Gesar was right, there was nothing she could do to help. So she had brought the Master Inquisitor, who had come without saying a word. Now, with a comlink in his ear, and a sheaf of papers in his hands, he was desperately trying to restrain his anger.

"All indications are that the very fabric of the Twilight is breaking down. The sightings are everywhere, even humans claim to have seen something, although its not very likely yet. It soon will be..."

"It said it was dying." Sveta stood with her arms folded. "Was this Roberts plan? To destroy it by doing nothing...taking my daughter so my husband cannot do anything either? Death by apathy?"

"If that is the case then I am a fool!" Kardos slammed the folder down. "I played right into his hands when I set the seals. How he must be laughing at us right now!" He dropped into Gesar's chair and held his head in his hands. "I regret it now, I thought I was doing the right thing, it seemed the only solution at the time, the only way I could save lives..."

"It was..." Gesar replied. "If you hadn't taken such drastic action most, if not all, of us would be gone by now."

"And yet still they curse my name in the halls..." Kardos quoted from some unknown tome, his voice quivering slightly.

"Oh how unusual, a Dark one with a conscience." Sveta remarked sarcastically.

"SVETA!" Gesar shouted "...that was totally uncalled for!"

"I'm not apologising Boris.." she frowned. "I've seen to much recently.." He knew she was referring to Olga, and winced.

"No...no, she's right." Kardos interjected. "I'm as much to blame as Robert. If I didn't have this driving will to find him, he wouldn't be taking counter action against me. If I had the balls many years ago, I could have killed Merlin before he damaged the Twilight even further. But all I ever did was think of myself. I didn't even try to kill myself to save Darnar in the end..." his voice trailed off.

Sveta was about to ask who Darnar was, but Gesar shook his head in a 'not now' gesture. "You did what you had to." he said. "You did what felt right at the time..."

"Yesss..." Kardos hissed, jerking his head up, anger etched on his features. "What felt 'right'...only it wasn't was it?"

"Oh enough of the self pity!" Sveta cried. "Thousands are already dead or dying. My family is out there now, I don't know if they are alive or not, and all because of your bloody scheming. The least you can do is have the backbone to see it through to the end!"

"Sveta, no!" Gesar was about to say more, but Kardos stopped him.

"I know what I have done, and you are right again. I have to see this through now, if only to make all those lives mean something." He nodded. "I'm not sure what to do to 'prop up' the Twilight until I can get Robert in there though."

"Would an injection of power do? Give back some of what it gives out?"

"Its going to be a very fine line though, between stopping the damage from getting any worse and triggering the disappearances again."

Sveta mumbled expletives under her breath, then added "And for that we'd need Nadya again, and that bastards got her." She stifled a sob at the end of the sentence.

Gesar looked across at Kardos. "There is your answer then. He's not only taken her to call Anton out, but to stop us from using her to save the Twilight. So, power is the key..."

"He knew we'd work it out." Kardos reached for Gesar's phone, then hesitated. "Of course, it might also be the conclusion he wants us to reach."

"Do we have an alternative?" Gesar shrugged.

"I guess not, not now.." He reached for the phone again, lift the receiver then paused, placing it back down. Gesar watched him and looked quizzically at the Dark one. Kardos scowled. "I'm so stupid at times!"

"What?"

"How did Robert know we were going to the guest house to look for him? How did Zabulon know as well? How did the spies in the safe houses know we were coming? How did both of them know we were going to the London eye? How did Robert know the best time to get the girl, when Anton was travelling back from HQ with you Gesar?" Kardos stared bitterly at the phone. "There's only one way. There is a deeply entrenched spy at Inquisitor Headquarters. One who's working for all sides in this..."

"Double agent?"

"More like triple." He slammed his fist against the desk. "Damn them all! I cannot trust my own members any more. I don't know how long its been happening for, it could be years! All that time...all the wasted chances..."

"Do you know who it is?" asked Gesar.

Kardos paced to the door and reached for the handle. "No.." he replied "..but I soon will. In the meantime I'll organise as many of the unsealed Others as I can myself on a strictly need to know basis."

"How many will you need do you think?"

Kardos swung the door open, then looked back at them. "More than we've got." he replied, then slammed the door shut behind himself.

Sveta turned to Gesar. "I'll help if I can."

"You'll have to, we might need everyone..." Gesar looked troubled "...and I mean everyone."

She suddenly realised who he was reluctantly referring to. "No, oh no not him, you cant mean it Gesar, you cant even think it, not after..."

"Even him."

"I don't know who's the bigger bastard around here Boris, you or him!" Sveta was apoplectic. "Not after what he did to Olga! Fuck it man, I thought you cared for her more than that!"

"She wouldn't be alone this time, I know you would be there." Gesar's face turned to stone. "There's more at stake here than one persons feelings, one persons life, even she would tell you that."

Sveta was about to plunge into a triad of verbal abuse, her anger bubbling up like lava, when a thought suddenly occurred to her. Her eyes widened. "I forgot! Nadya is still linked to Olga!"

Gesar turned pale. "If Robert has your daughter shielded, Olga is cut off from the power..."

"Or I can follow the thread that she's linked by!"

"Either way, you have to go in and find out, it could be the break we need."

"Or a tragedy...if..." Sveta looked down at her feet.

Gesar's face remained stony. "Either way...we have to know."

Sveta nodded and immediately dropped into the Twilight. Gesar crumpled up into his chair, his stoic expression breaking, a single tear trickling down his cheek.

* * *

It felt like stale bile on her skin. The sluggish mist was dark and stank of decay, Sveta struggled to see her way, gagging at the smell. She made a ball of light and noticed the power to create it seemed to clear her view more than the additional illumination. Which confirmed Kardos's theory. Pumping extra into a shield around herself cleared the oil-slick feeling. It still gave the impression of wading through it; It seemed to take ages to get anywhere, the green tinged smog draining her more than usual. A pervading atmosphere of despair seemed to filter into everything, increasing her dread with every step. She could here whispering just beyond clear hearing range. Laments, voices in misery.

After an unbearably long time Sveta could just make out a hunched form some way in front of her. But distances seemed skewed, as if the Twilight were stretching, pulling apart piece by piece. It took a long time to get to Olga, and was shocked to see the state she was in. Tears were pouring down Olga's face, streaked with visible smears from the corrupted air. She was curled up in a ball, rocking to and fro, her clothes were soaked from the all pervading damp, and stained.

Olga turned round and saw Sveta. Letting out a long howl she flung herself at the startled woman, passing through the shield easily, which was designed to block power not people, dirty fingernails trying to rake out Sveta's eyes. Sveta caught her by the wrists easily, there was no strength left in the trapped Other. Pulling Olga's arms forward she almost gagged at the sight of her wrists, the gashes where she had slit them, but failed to bleed out.

Dropping to the floor, Olga wailed wordlessly. Sveta slapped her across the face. "Olga! Olga! It's me, Sveta...Olga!"

A brief flash of recognition flitted across Olga's face. "S..s.." She held her hands up, pleading. "Pleeaasseee...let me die...pleeaassee...I tried...it wont let me.. Its killing me...its driving me mad...it wont let me die..."

Sveta was horrified. "What wont, Olga...Olga..."

"I..I..I.. tried to break the link, but it wouldn't let me, it wont let me DIE!" The last word came out as a screech as Olga dropped back into a ball, rocking mindlessly, staring into the sickly mist.

Sveta dropped down and hugged Olga, rocking with her, the tears flowing as freely as the tortured woman's. But as much as she grieved for her, she couldn't help feel relief that the link still held. Standing up she said "Not much longer now, Olga, I promise. Either way, I promise." But Olga no longer heard her, she had gone back to rocking, and crying.

Following the tenuous thread that reached off into the darkness, Sveta had no choice but to leave Olga behind, and hope there was someone inside her mind to come back to later...


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The buildings were derelict, crumbling masonry littered the alleyway below. A billboard, its paper adverts long since weathered away, clung crookedly onto a billowing wall. Some 'Condemned for Demolition' signs hung on blocked up windows, their paint faded and flaked away to almost nothing. Weeds grew up through the cracked pavement outside, nature taking back it world.

Anton looked about him. The entire district was the same, long abandoned since the Cold War era, nondescript buildings containing unknowns. A stain on history, a dark time for all; Needless suspicions in a brutal world.

His footsteps echoed from the surrounding high walls, the alley almost enclosed by overhanging gantry's and rusted ventilation shafts. A chill wind, despite the summer season, whipped up eddies of dust, swirling them around his feet as he passed.

He stopped by a door, battered and gouged with graffiti by someone probably long since dead. The coying trail that had lead him here was so strong he almost gagged. Surreptitiously looking round for traps or anyone watching him, Anton placed his hand on the door and pushed gently. It swung open on deceptively fluid hinges, revealing the silent gloom behind it. Stepping over the threshold gingerly, he carefully placed his feet on the rotting floorboards, senses alert to the minutest cracking sound that might indicate a sudden deadly plunge.

But the floor held. Squinting into the dark, Anton tried to see what lay beyond the few feet of light cast by the open door. Dropping into the Twilight to aid him, he was hit by a blanket of corruption, the green mist making him want to retch. Revulsion shook him to his core, forcing him back out. Anton almost cried out at the change in it, it was happening too soon. He could look into the Twilight, see his diamond spinning wildly now, but the dying Twilight couldn't help him any more.

Forming a tiny ball of light in his palm he held it forward. It lit only a few meters in front of him, barely enough to see his own feet clearly, but any larger and it would drain his own lifeforce too rapidly. 'Some light is better than no light' he thought and smirked at the hidden irony in the idea.

Shuffling past a scattering of ceiling plaster, Anton saw the vague shape of stairs start to appear out of the aphotic atmosphere. The trail lead upwards. Placing his foot on the first step he looked up and saw faint light drifting in. Putting his body weight carefully on the stair he climbed slowly, clutching the rusty handrail, leaving copper coloured smears on his jacket sleeve. Passing two more floors in a similar state he carried on without stopping, the trail leading ever upward. At the top he extinguished the light ball, stopping for a few minutes to allow his eyes to adjust to the change of luminosity from the daylight outside, filtering through gaps in the deteriorating roof; Rafters exposed, the cracked slates slipping with time.

Anton was in a corridor, various doors led off from it. They seen like offices, some open, some closed, all abandoned. For a brief moment he could imagine the people here, the ringing of phones, the barking of orders, the clatter of typewriters and voices. He shivered.

The trail pulled him on.

It lead him to a door. Anton opened it. Behind it was one of the frequent gantry walkways dimming the light over the alleyway. The gantry appeared unstable, holes in both the sides and the floor, the metal roof almost entirely missing. Gripping onto the door frame he stepped out onto the walkway. It shuddered violently and gave an audible groan. Leaping back, Anton waited for the shuddering to die down, and realised it wasn't all from the gantry. He hated heights, the incident with Egor hadn't made it any better.

He tried again, sliding his foot along one of the girders at the side of the gantry. Gripping onto what use to be a support cable running along the inside of the missing low roof he began to slowly move out on to the walkway, slithering rather than stepping, trying to keep vibrations to a minimum. A few meters out from the door a gust of wind slammed it shut, shaking the whole structure. Anton hung on grimly, looking back at the door, but there was no handle visible on his side. Looking ahead, the door at the opposite end was open, waiting. He had no choice but to go on.

Inching his way along he stopped every few feet as more of the structure fell away around him. Another gust of wind blew down a sizeable chunk of the floor ahead of him. Gripping tightly to the sagging cable above him, Anton balanced on the edge of the girder, his feet threatening to slip at any moment. Scuttling across the gap he panted as he reached the other side. Step by painful step he eased himself across the gantry, the shuddering growing worse the closer to the end he got.

Just a few feet from the end he heard a loud popping sound and a deafening grind. Looking behind him he could see the gantry slowly detach itself from the wall and began to plunge to the floor. With a flying leap Anton flung himself at the open doorway, his fingers latching onto the bottom of the frame as the walkway collapsed around him. A piece of the still intact roof slammed him across the top of his head as it fell, crashing into a pile of twisted metal three floors below him. Dazed, he felt a slow trickle down his temple from where the blow had split the skin. Dangling precariously, Anton hauled himself up, his legs flailing wildly, his feet trying to get a grip. Crawling on his belly through the opening he sat gasping for air and looked at the mess below.

Putting his hand up to his head, he pulled his fingers away, sticky with slow oozing blood. Anton rested for a few minutes, the pounding headache beginning to kick in. Hauling himself to his feet he peered into the gloom of the newly entered building, just as derelict as the last. But the trail lead on, and he had to follow...

* * *

The thread was tenuous at best. Sveta dropped lower into the Twilight where the decay seemed less, or at least more bearable. But it made following the thread even harder. Thicker wisps of fog flowed past her eyes, obscuring her view completely for a moment. She waited for them to pass, then realised it wasn't just fog, it was diaphanous forms, wraith-like spirits of Others, coming up from the lower levels as the Twilights integrity began to dissolve. Each carried a look for despair on their barely visible faces.

Sveta shook her head. There was nothing she could do for them here. She pressed on, following the re-emerged thread. The ground beneath her feet felt sticky yet slick at the same time. Crossing over a hill she lost her footing coming down the other side and fell on her back, sliding to a stop at the bottom of the slope. Cursing under her breath Sveta stood up and brushed herself down, checking for any injuries. It was only when she straightened up she noticed the crying. It carried on the air almost silently, but Sveta realised she had heard it for sometime now.

The urge to follow the thread tugged at her heart, but the sobbing drew her as well. It sounded like a child. It might be Nadya, she reasoned, knowing it wasn't, but she veered off the trail anyway. The non-sound drew her forward. Forgetting her own daughter for a moment, Sveta realised it was coming from deeper in, so she dropped down further.

Sveta estimated she had reached level 6, there was no definition between the levels any more, she just went by the amount of power she needed to maintain her position as a rough guide. She had been here before, but not often, it was a drain, even on her. At this depth the Twilight appeared fairly normal, as normal as it ever got inside. But even as the thought floated in her mind, the green tendrils of mist began to creep around her ankles. Pressing forward, following the sound, much clearer now, Sveta felt more than saw a change in the atmosphere around her as she approached a copse of ethereal trees. From somewhere in the centre she could see a faint glow beneath the dim shadows cast by the falling leaves, just beginning to turn to autumnal colours. Stepping into the wood, Sveta's feet crunched on twigs and windfalls, the smell of earth and mushrooms giving a richness to the air that she had never encountered inside the Twilight before.

Pacing slowly now, she reached a gap between the majestic trunks, the faint glow shone brightly here. Just beyond lay a clearing, warm sunlight beaming down onto the lush green grass below. She began to walk across it. But Sveta caught her breath as she watched a multitude of flowers rise up and burst into bloom where she had trod. The crying was hidden for a moment by music so beautiful, so all-encompassing, that she forgot who she was for a time, wandering about the glade, producing more and even more exotic flora as she went. The sun felt good on her skin, drying out the slime that the mist had left on her body, evaporating it as if it didn't exist.

Sveta felt something at the back of her mind. Turning round the sound of tears cut through her euphoria. It was coming from a clump of tall reeds by the side of a large pond she hadn't seen before. Tentatively walking over, Sveta saw a myriad of dazzling fish dart away from the surface at the vibration of her feet. Reaching the reeds she slowly parted them with her hands.

Curled up at the bottom was a small boy, naked, his face glistening and streaked by tears, his eyes red and filled with more. Sveta's heart lurched in sympathy as she reached out to him. The boy suddenly shrieked and trying to bury himself deeper into the vegetation, mud oozing up from the edge of the water. Alarmed that he would fall into the pond completely, Sveta spoke, her voice seemingly out of place in the symphony around her.

"Shhhh... its alright, I wont hurt you, come on out from there...come on..."

The boy looked at her, his tears stopping for a moment. Sveta almost bolted, the small child's eyes were pure grey, the white part completely missing, but they held such depth that she was captivated. There was no malice in them, just pure sadness. In one swift movement she scooped the child up and held him close, hugging him tightly in her arms, her own sobs ripped from her body without volition. At first the boy squirmed, not knowing how to respond, then gave in, throwing his arms around her neck and hugging back, a fresh round of tears falling.

For what seemed like an eternity they stood there, the forlorn mother and the lost child, while the beauty of the glade flowed around them. Eventually, Sveta began to grow weary, the drawing of power even telling on her. The boy seemed to sense the change in her and, looking at her again, seemed to come to a decision. Suddenly her mind was filled with the boys memories, the life in the glade, the wonders he had seen in the Twilight, the joy, the sorrow. So much time, aeons of life.

In return, Sveta involuntarily gave up all her memories to the boy, hers and the ones she still held from the link with the Others when the seals came down. Thousands upon thousands, but still the boy gave her more than she could ever give him. She saw through his eyes a tiny grave, and knew it contained a small dead bird, the boys lifelong friend. Sveta was surprised, there were no animals in the Twilight, that she knew of. But the boy did not lie.

As the exchange continued, dark clouds covered the sun and a light rain fell, watering the flowers which put forth even greater efforts, the air heady with the scent of their fragrance. The child broke the link first, leaving Sveta dazed. As the rain washed the streaks from his skin he watched her, to see what she would do next.

The rain grew heavier. Sveta remained motionless, unable to remove the image of the dead bird out of her head. Then, as the boys deep grey eyes continued to study her, realisation dawned. The whole damn mess exploded into a reality of understanding in her conscious.

Sveta mouthed a silent 'Oh'. The boy just nodded. Her tears flowed as freely as the rain, but she just nodded back. Almost wishing she didn't have to, Sveta turned and left the glade behind, the knowledge she had just received had to be passed on. She had to find Nadya as well, which was even more important now, in the light of things. She also knew her daughter was with the man she had to see. Looking back, the light began to fade from the glade as it slipped back into the unseen shadows of the Twilight, disappearing from view. Briefly Sveta wondered if it had been real, until she felt her wet clothes clinging to her chilled body. Rain, rain in the Twilight! The droplets still couldn't match the heaviness dripping in Sveta's heart.

* * *

Anton's foot slipped. The loose floorboard clattered down to the landing below. Cursing under his breath at his complacency he readjusted his damaged shoe. This building had seemed less rotten than the others he had been drawn through. He should have known though, one false move and... he didn't carry the thought on. He was close now, the gut feeling had been growing stronger during the past hour. Outside, noon had been and gone, but in here it was constant evening.

Rounding a corner he was surprised to see a section in good condition, just ahead of him the corridor was well lit, the signature of decay absent. Anton was instantly on guard. The slip just moments before warning him of the precariousness of his situation. Edging forward slowly, feeling every step as he went, he was almost disappointed that the floor was as strong as it looked. Reaching a hand out to the wall it felt almost new, none of the coying damp that pervaded the atmosphere behind him.

Anton stiffened. He could hear voices ahead, coming from behind one of the doors. Sweating he clasped the door handle. Before he had chance to move it someone called "Come in Mr Gorodetsky, I have been waiting for you..."

The door opened by itself, leaving Anton's hand empty. He peered through the door. The room behind appeared empty, apart from a single office chair. Sat in the chair was Nadya. Anton could barely resist the urge to rush forward and grab her, but the voice had not come from his imagination. Nadya sat silently, watching her father, which instantly alerted him that she was not alone.

"Show yourself!" He shouted, with more confidence than he felt. He was answered by a low chuckle.

"Caution, good, good, a rarity these days it seems.". From behind the open door a figure stepped.

Anton recognised him immediately. "Robert." he hissed. "I've looked long and hard for you."

"Now, then, it wasn't that hard was it?" Robert sounded almost petulant. "I certainly knew where you were all the time." Before Anton could reply, Robert held up a hand. "Wine gums, before you ask. All Neutrals have a unique trace, but we seem to smell it rather than see it. You are wine gums, pleasant enough, but a bit sickly now you're close up."

"We...?" Anton blurted.

Robert shook his head. "No more, I'm afraid. You and me, we're part of a dying breed, the last of our kind. And the last there will ever be."

"But why...?" the list of questions Anton wanted to ask this man just dissipated, Nadya forgotten for a moment. Robert just smiled and turned away, Anton suppressed the urge to jump him from behind and wipe the smug look from the older man's face. But he had his daughter to think of. Robert walked away from Anton and stood behind her chair. Nadya looked up at him for a moment, then fixed her eyes back on Anton. He detected no fear in them, and released the breath that he hadn't realised he was holding. Robert looked down at the child almost reverently, stroking her hair just once.

"Children are amazing things. They have virtually unlimited life forces. One solitary infant can power a world. And then they lose it..." A strange look flitted across Robert's face. "They grow up, and discover their own mortality. And that's when the rot sets in." He looked directly at Anton. "That's when we can use them."

"Wrong, you use them, like you use everyone else."

Robert threw back his head and gave a hearty laugh. "You've used humans as much as I have. Just because Light and Dark drain emotions rather that life force doesn't mean you haven't done it, just in a different way." His face became sombre. "Others will increase exponentially as humans do. One day we will be found...and then what? What will happen when humans find out what they have lost because of us, what they can never have because of us? Better that we all die or fade away now than the massacre discovery will bring."

"You don't know that."

"Oh? A long time ago something unexplained could be described as magic, evil spirits, Gods will, and humans would believe. Now? Science has removed all the magic from the world. Unexplained things become explained, the ones that cannot be solved spread on the internet, conspiracy theorists abound. All it takes is one clever person to link it all together. Our end may not be now, but it cannot be far away..."

"So you're still intent on destroying the Twilight?" Anton was only faintly aware of something silently appearing just out of sight behind Robert, in the corner of the room. He forced himself not to glance at it, as a figure quietly appeared.

A look of intense pain creased Roberts brow. "What I created, I must uncreate, enough have perished because of me. The Twilight must die...you have no idea how much it tears at my soul to do it, but I must..."

"I do." the newly appeared figure said. Robert spun round in surprise. Sveta was stood just behind him, her expression unreadable. "I know why... the Twilight is your son..."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Roberts face twisted with such a look of pain that for a moment Sveta wished she hadn't said anything, but her resolve remained unwavered.

Anton looked confused. "But you said you killed him because he was dying..."

"I did." Robert also screeched the reply. "But...but..."

"Then how is it that your son is the soul of the Twilight." Sveta moved forward, slowly moving her way closer to Nadya.

"Stay there!" Robert barked, and Sveta felt a barrier appear between her and her child. She saw Anton almost imperceptibly shake his head. She fought to hide her frustration, but stood still.

"I didn't do it on purpose..." tears dampened Roberts cheeks. He turned to Anton, a pleading look in his eyes. "I had 'discovered' the Twilight before I said I had. It was at least two years before my darling Teal gave me a son. It was...unformed though, I had fallen in by accident. I had been trying some new herbs on myself, as a good Shaman should, but one was more poisonous than I thought, as I lay almost dead I passed the Shadowmist wall, I thought it was death coming to claim me. But it healed me. I emerged changed. When the drought came I tried all I could to bring the rains. I even tried to used the Twilight as it is called now. But I couldn't link with it, I couldn't get a grip, understand it. When Teal died, and the baby grew so weak I thought...I thought..."

"You sacrificed your son inside the Twilight."

"He was almost dead, and I had tried to take him in to cure him as it had me...but he was just human, the Shadowmist did nothing for him. I was so desperate for a link with this great power that could save all my people...I...yes, I sacrificed him. As his lifeforce drifted out into the mist it linked with me, and I sent it my plea for rain... The rains came."

"And the love for your son..." Sveta cut in "...created the Glade."

"Oh gods yes. I didn't know it would happen. Somehow his lifeforce began to use the Twilight, gave it a sense of purpose. I went in often, but he didn't need me, a whole world created itself around him, his thoughts and dreams became real..."

Anton still looked puzzled. "But why then, is the Twilight flawed? What is the flaw..?"

"I know why, he showed me himself." Sveta rubbed her hands together. "It was flawed because as a newborn he had no concept of self, he had no concept of death. So as Others dissolved into the Twilight they got trapped, as there was no death for them to move on to...He learned everything he knows from us..." She shook her head. "When Merlin and Kardos formed the first Dark and Light ones, he learned emotions for the first time. When Merlin broke the lowest level open to satisfy his own desire to leave, a small bird that had been created for him as a companion was killed in the backlash of power. He learned about death for the first time."

"That means..."

"It means Robert, your son has come of age, he now knows his own mortality, and he knows someone is trying to kill him..."

"And you said once a child knows their own mortality their lifeforce becomes finite." Anton said, pointing at Robert.

"And that's how he planned to destroy the Twilight. He knew what Merlin had done, and knew it would end his son." Sveta's wrath was building. "He wants to let his son die alone and afraid while the Twilight sucks the life out of him..."

"I want to end his suffering!" Robert wailed. "I want to end all Others suffering. If we never find the Twilight, if its not there, we can live our lives out as humans, not knowing any better."

"Kostya made the same mistake, but reversed. He wanted everyone to be an Other, he died still believing it..." Anton said, his voice almost cracking. "But why did all those Light and Dark ones just disappear into the Twilight, the level fours and fives, was your son looking for you...?"

"No.." said Sveta. "As the barriers between the levels broke down, the protection around the Glade faded, they could feel its call. They had seen it in their dreams, caught snatches of the music it makes. They died trying to get to it, fading away if they arrived. He saw it all, it just confirmed in that boy's mind that death existed."

"But why...?

"Fours and fives? Lower couldn't get that far even if they tried, and higher managed to resist the pull, but it gave us disturbed sleep, if we slept at all. I know how strong that call is. I have been there, its so beautiful..."Sveta felt silent, lost in thought.

"Its unnatural!" bellowed Robert. "It has to end NOW!"

"Killing your own child is unnatural!" She spat back. "And despite it all he still wants to see you..."

"NOOOO!"

"Why not?" Sveta edged forward while Robert seemed distracted, the shield in front of her dropping. "Why wont you go to him, why wont you comfort your own flesh and blood?"

"Because...because..."

"You're afraid aren't you?" She edged another step forward.

"Come no closer!" Robert yelled, and Sveta felt a vice like grip drop around her. Robert turned to Anton. "And you had better not try to free your daughter either. You cant fight me here, there is no one to draw from except these two, why do you think I met you here. I have a link to my people, supplying me, you don't even have a flock of pigeons to call upon."

Anton noticed for the first time the thin thread trailing into Robert aura, he hadn't noticed it until the Neutral one had started to draw power through it.

"And what does your 'energy supply' think of what you are doing to them? They don't know do they? They don't know that once this is over you'll discard them as you discarded your own baby!"

Sveta boiled in frustration, but clenched her teeth so as not to yell expletives at the man in front of her daughter. "Who do they think is causing the Twilight to fail? Did you tell them you were to blame, or pass the blame onto the Watches? They don't know, do they? You can't risk them finding out yet because you still need them..."

"I don't need anyone!" Robert half snarled.

"And why did you bring me here then?" asked Anton. "You didn't have to kidnap my daughter to have me meet with you..."

"Your people are trying to prop up the Twilight with power. They will fail, their best have been sealed away from it, as I planned..."

"And if they had Nadya, they might have succeeded?"

"No, they can only put off the inevitable..."

"Long enough to find a solution though!" Sveta screeched, unable to contain herself, squirming in the force that held her. "Give me back my daughter, you bastard!"

Anton snarled. "What do you plan to do to her?"

"Nothing." Robert stared down at Nadya's head almost reverently. "Children are our future, I'm doing this for them, for all the future Others, so they can have a normal life, without prejudice against them, without living so long that they see all their friends and relatives die of old age around them. So that they don't know the heartache and pain of loss repeated over and over again..." He looked directly back at Anton. "Tell me, have you met an Other who hasn't lost someone?"

"We all do, its called life..."

"No, I mean had to stand there and watch them age and die while they remained forever unchanged... forever young?"

Sveta suddenly thought of Semyon, and Boris's and Olga's son...

"Near-immortality is a curse not a blessing. The longer you live, the worse it gets..." There was a tear in Roberts eye again. "I could tell you tales that would make you claw your own eyes out in grief. Millions have died because of us, of Others... And I have caused it all. Now we are close to being discovered I have to end it once and for all time. If it means I have to sacrifice my son for a second time so be it, it is my punishment for interfering in things that were not meant to be."

For a brief moment Anton could see before him the history of Others laid bare, the unending lives of all of them, in life and endless non-death in the Twilight. For an instant he could understand Roberts plan, he could see the reasons why. The vista of it all overwhelmed him, until he saw Nadya's face. She was smiling.

"No..." he said, smiling back at his daughter. "We may outlive the ones we love, but there is no point in living if you cannot love. We live to see them born, age, die, and know they have had good lives. An eternity of hell is worth one day of joy."

Robert shook his head. "I knew I couldn't expect you to understand. I met you to try, but mainly to tell you your daughter will be safe. I will return her after the Twilight had ended as long as you don't try to look for her. She is not going to help you save what shouldn't have been created in the first place. I chose here as... well, you had to concentrate so hard to get to me you would forget to check if there was anyone to draw from nearby. So no last minute rescue attempts." He pointed at Sveta. "And you were unexpected but never a danger."

Sveta seethed but remained silent. Nadya turned to her mother.

"Its alright mummy, I will stay with him for now, I am safe. And tell Aunty Olga I hope she gets well soon, I'll be thinking of her."

Anton saw a look pass between them and Sveta visibly relax, but Robert didn't notice.

"Yes she will be fine...now I must leave. I expect you will go straight to your superiors to tell them of all this..."

"Before you go..." said Anton "...I have one question..."

"Yes?"

"When I...returned, I spoke a message during the transformation...what did it mean?"

Robert frowned. "I had heard about that...but it wasn't from me, my message was just to tell what I planned for all Other-kind. I hadn't planned on you living beyond that, I thought the transformation to Neutral would kill you..."

"Love is stronger than you think." Sveta glared at Robert. He just nodded.

A portal opened silently behind him. He gestured to Nadya, who stood up and followed him. She turned and waved before stepping through, Sveta felt like screaming, but the cryptic clue Nadya had given her gave her a speck of hope. Anton felt sick to the stomach as his little girl disappeared, but he knew Robert was telling the truth. She was safe, for now.

As the portal closed, Anton held his head in his hands. The shield around Sveta dropped and she moved over to him, holding him in her arms.

"We've lost haven't we?" he sighed.

Sveta shook her head. "No, there's still a chance. Nadya gave me the idea."

"What?"

"She's still linked to Olga. I need to get Olga to the Glade, Nadya isn't blocked, she can still supply power."

"Good!"

"Maybe...last time I saw Olga she was in a bad way...it...might be too late."

He looked around the out of place room. "If you can do the honours, its time we were leaving."

Sveta opened a portal. "Anton..."

"What?"

"If Olga is...unavailable...I will have to stay in the Glade and let Nadya link to me... its just..."

"What is it?"

"I may not be able to leave again..."

* * *

Kardos punched the wall so hard Anton could hear the bones crunching in his fist.

"All along!" He bellowed. "All along he knew, he knew, and played me for the patsy. And all I had to do... all I had to do was get the bastard to go in..."

Anton winced as he saw the Dark ones knuckles beginning to swell. "It wasn't that easy. Its only now, when the barriers are dropping, that we have to get him in..."

"And will it work?"

"I don't know, Sveta seems to think so...but she didn't say how. She said it was a strong hunch..."

"Hunches! I need facts!" Kardos went to slam his broken hand on the desk, then stopped. Pressing the intercom he said "Get me a healer, one who isn't needed for the project..."

A few moments later there was a knock at the door. Kardos motioned Anton to silence, opening the door and allowing the healer in. Working quietly the young woman cast healing power into his clawed hand, but he waved her away before fully completed. "Go back to where your most needed." he said. She nodded and left, closing the door. Kardos waited a few seconds, then opened it again, making sure she was gone.

"There is also the other problem. He almost came right out and said it." Kardos slumped down. "We DO have a spy in our midst. Someone high up in the Inquisition. Few knew about that message you gave. There is only one copy of the recording, and its here in the vaults. I don't like where this is leading..."

"He knew what you were planning to do about propping up the Twilight as well..."

"Nothing I can do just now." Kardos snarled. "Whoever the spy is, they'll be found, in the meantime I need to get hold of more Others."

"Not enough yet?"

"There could never be enough, I have to do what I can though, in case your wife and daughter fail to feed power into it, even the girl isn't strong enough to shore up the Twilight on her own. It needs a massive amount... if only I wasn't sealed!" He turned to Anton. "I have a mission for you. As you know we need every Other we can get hold of... every one of them. Some are... a little more elusive than most. I need you to... go back to England and find Egor, and persuade him to come and join us..."

"There's something else isn't there?"

"We also need Zabulon. They are both vital, but together they will kill each other... but without them..."

"Catch 22...as they say..."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

So I was in that town again, third time in just over a month. The circumstances were a bit more favourable this time, but not by much. I stood at the base of the tower looking up, hoping for some sort of residual trace, but it had been too long, even if I was still capable of seeing it. Kardos told me to go and see Essa again. It turned my stomach even thinking about it, but I had agree. Now I wished I hadn't.

I tried to catch one of the strange wall-carpeted buses to her flat, only to find that the route had been permanently cancelled just the week before. Cursing my bad luck I set out on the long walk. At least the weather seemed pleasant.

I should have kept my mouth shut, by the time I reached the flats it had decided to downpour, the short but heavy rain even penetrating through my raincoat. It darkened my mood even further. Entering the foyer of Essa's block I halted at a sign on the wall. My blood ran ice cold. It was a demolition sign. I remembered the bodies stashed down the lift-shaft, I remembered when that Dark one, the one I labelled Scumbag, had said the only way they would be found is if they pulled the tower-block down. I briefly wondered what became of him, which asylum his mindless body, squatting in its own shit, would be in.

I shuddered, I was still not a nice person.

The lift was working, but I couldn't bring myself to use it. Climbing the stairs I also wondered how Kardos knew Essa was still here. I would have moved out long since, she wouldn't have much choice soon, the closure notice was for six weeks time.

I must have stood for a good ten minutes outside her door, I wasn't just trying to pluck up the courage to knock, but the vivid memories of the non-rape still burned and I wanted to make sure that's all they were...memories. Eventually I rapped my knuckle on the timber framed door. It opened almost immediately, as though she had been waiting behind it.

"I... er...hello..." I said lamely.

"Hello" she replied. "What do you want?"

I was taken aback by the sudden blunt question and blurted out "I'm looking for Egor."

"What again? Didn't you do enough damage to him last time?"

I was shocked into silence, my mouth opening and closing like a fish. Essa continued.

"Three days he kept crying for, three days! He came back here a few days after you had been, he was suicidal, he kept going on about how he didn't mean it, how he hated you, how he liked you. He thought he had killed you by not offering to help. He cursed someone, but I couldn't catch the name, and he cursed you as well. He said you had betrayed him, and that he had betrayed you!"

I was stunned. I didn't understand some of what she said but I could guess what she was referring to.

"And then he went off somewhere, said he had business. I never expected to see him again. But when he did come back he wasn't the same. He was distant, polite but all locked up inside. I think I preferred it when he was crying."

"Oh Essa, I didn't know. It wasn't me who hurt him, but I suppose I'm to blame as much as anyone. If he was here now I'd throw myself at his feet and say sorry. But I'm not here just for that..."

"No, he said you never were...I wish I'd never given you a coffee the first time..." She swung the door wide open and motion me to enter. I saw boxes piled up, non-essential furniture piled up in the hallway. She was getting ready to move out. Following her through to the living room there was one armchair left that didn't have clutter on it. She sat down and looked at me. "So why have you come? I want the truth..."

I didn't know what to say. For all Essa had seen and experienced when with Egor, she was still a human. I decided the throw caution to the wind and tell her everything. I began with the history of the Twilight as we had recently found out, hesitantly at first, then more freely as I got into the flow of it. Essa looked appalled but remained quiet. I stood and recounted it all. I never noticed it growing dark outside, I just had this compelling urge to tell her all now I had started, but I spared her some of the gory details from the shameful stuff I did when Dark. I just felt she deserved that much. I didn't need to burden her with my guilt. When I got to the part with me and Egor on the Tower, tears were flowing down both our faces. Eventually I reached the point where there was no more to be said and fell silent. She stood up and looked piercingly at me. I allowed her scrutiny.

"And now you want Egor's help. After all your people have done to him, you want his help."

I was a little surprised, Essa had never once questioned what I had told her, hadn't dismissed any of it as a fanciful fairytale told by a madman. She cut straight to the point. I still couldn't help thinking she was a remarkable young woman.

"Yes. But I would also have to ask him to do something that is totally against his very soul."

"What?"

"I have to ask him not to kill his father, at least until this is all over..."

"This Zabulon will be there?"

"Possibly, although I expect it would be against his will..."

"I will be there.."

The voice behind me made me gasp. I hadn't heard the kitchen door open. I spun round, strangely pleased my reaction times were as good as ever. Egor stood in the doorway. Since the short time I had seen him last he had changed. He looked gaunt, but not in a starving way, and he had grown taller. I kept forgetting he was still only Twenty, not yet filled out as a man, and yet with the weight of a world on his shoulders. His eyes held a sadness that tore at my soul. I had to repress the urge to hug him, instead I just stood there lost for words, not knowing how to react.

The silence grew longer. It was Egor that broke it. "I knew you would come, I told Essa to let you in, I wanted to hear what you had to say..."

"It was all true. You know me Egor. I maybe just a freak now, but I still never lie."

"I know."

His acceptance felt like a death sentence had been lifted from my shoulders, for one exquisite moment Egor had become the most important thing in the world to me. I realised I needed his approval, his... if not forgiveness then at least... his understanding. I didn't care what he thought after that, I walked up to him and threw my arms around him in a bear hug. He returned the hug, reluctantly at first, then held on tighter. I could feel him trembling, he was exhausted and fighting it, trying not to show any sign.

"Your not sleeping are you?" I said quietly "...you are having the dreams to."

He nodded. "Almost since... since that bastard took me... in... I thought it was just a side-effect...but.."

I stood back and looked at him, my hands still on his quivering shoulders. "All that time? You haven't slept since all this started?"

Egor gestured over to Essa. "Now you know why I can't stay at night. I didn't want you to know.."

"Egor..." Essa couldn't say any more. She just stood and reached out for him. I let go and stepped back while the pair of them held on to each other almost in desperation. I began to have serious doubts. Egor wasn't fit to take on what was required of him. Then I remembered.

"Egor. Gesar had some sleeping pills made by our pharmacist, they were designed for Others, stronger that human ones, but they work. He issued everyone with them, but I never needed them.

"Do you have them here?" he asked, unable to keep the utter exhaustion out of his voice.

"No, but I can get them quickly." At that moment I decided to risk a portal, and damn the consequences to any one outside of the flat. Feeling for life force I found people down below in the street. Being as careful as I could I drew the tiniest amount possible from as many different people as I could sense and slowly formed a portal back to my house. It took surprising little power and I was beginning to see the advantages of portalling without the Twilight, wondering if it could be converted to Light and Dark use, if there was anything left after all this. I looked back at Egor and Essa, I was going to suggest Egor came through with me, but I could see he wasn't ready to go yet, and there was no way I was going to take him through by force. I was never going to make him do anything he didn't want to ever again.

Stepping through quickly I ran to the cabinet I kept the redundant pills in, then scrambled back through as the portal closed. Cracking the seal on the pills, I handed two to Egor. Essa brought him some water and I asked her to get a bed ready. Hers was still free, she hadn't packed it ready to move yet. Egor swallowed the pills and began to slump almost immediately. Essa gave a cry of alarm, but I caught him before he hit the floor. I carried him to the bed, he was too light, the gauntness more pronounced now as the glam he had been hiding behind dropped. His eyes were sunken, his skin sallow, yellow tinged. Even Others have limits of endurance.

I lay Egor on the bed, Essa fussed over him, adjusting the pillows and covering him over. I think she was looking for some signs of life from him, I'm sure for a moment Essa thought I'd poisoned him. But she was rewarded a few minutes later by a gentle snore. She visibly relaxed.

"Coffee?" She asked.

I smiled and nodded. It was instant from a jar this time, the percolator already boxed, and with about six teaspoons of sugar in it, it tasted like ambrosia to me. I sniffed it, the aroma reminded me of the smell Robert's aura gave off, but different, there were subtleties beneath it which made me realise his wasn't a true coffee smell, just like mine probably wasn't a true wine gums odour. Its strange how the brain makes associations to aid memory.

I remained standing, letting Essa use the chair. We sipped in silence for a while, the lack of conversation hanging heavy in the air. I felt uncomfortable just being there, and was about to make an excuse to leave for a short while when a hearty snore from the open bedroom door made us both giggle.

"How long will he..." Essa began to ask.

"At least six hours, the pills begin to wear off after that, it just depends if he's deep enough asleep afterwards to stay out any longer."

"That doesn't sound like much."

I smiled. "Its okay, people like me don't need much." I seemed to make Essa uncomfortable by saying that, so I changed the subject. "So, your moving then. Anywhere nice?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know if its nice?"

"No, I don't know where it is..."

"What, you mean your moving to somewhere that you don't even know...know where it is...?"

Essa sighed. "Its a long story. I'll keep it short. I got a letter a few days after you were here last time. It was when Egor was... I thought... going mad. So I stuff it at the back of the drawer. Then about a week later we all had notification that the flats were going to be demolished. So I decided to do some preliminary packing. It was then I found it again so I opened it. It was from a firm of solicitors. It said I have a relative who has bequeathed me a small property, and their entire estate will come to me when they pass on."

"When? You inherited before they died?"

"I had the letter checked by my lawyer, he said it isn't uncommon, it avoids inheritance tax."

"So where is the..."

"That's just it. I was told a removals van will come to take me and my stuff to the new place tomorrow. That's why I wondered about Egor..."

I frowned. "That sounds a bit suspect."

"Well that's what I thought...I don't have any relatives! Mother and Father died when I was young, and I was fostered. I was an only child, as they were, as were the generation before that. We were not a very fertile bunch..." She blushed. I fought the urge to hug her as I had Egor, to try and make everything right. But she didn't need me.

"Did you show the letter to Egor?"

"Not straight away, as you can imagine he had enough to think about. But I showed it him yesterday, and he said I had to go. He said it could be trusted..."

I was curious now. "May I see the letter?"

Essa reached underneath he seat cushion. "I keep it here in case it gets lost in the packing boxes." She passed me the folded letter. "Egor seemed quite excited when he saw the pattern on the letterhead" she added.

Unfolding the document I saw why immediately and almost dropped it. At the top of the page was the Seal of the Inquisition...

I wasn't so sure it could be trusted any more...


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Dammit Olga, your not helping!" cursed Sveta under her breath. She was tired from dragging her friends prone, unconscious form through the slick, foetid air, but the rest of the Others would start to arrive in less than an hour and Sveta was desperate for her plan to work. She hoped her instructions had been clear enough. She had told Kardos briefly her idea...

"You need to get them in the Twilight as far in as they can comfortably go, no point draining the only power we've got. Lower levels just inside, higher deeper in. They need to form a chain to the outside world. And they need to link...I know its difficult, Light wont want to, neither will Dark, but its the only way I can see to do this..."

"But wouldn't that need thousands? We don't have that many Others left in the world, and what is it you're planning?"

"They don't need to be physically touching, just power linked. I'll take Olga to the centre, through her we have Nadya as well. If that fails I'll secure the link myself..."

"Yes but..."

"I've touched the mind of the Twilight..." then she added "and its told me what to do..." She hoped the lie wasn't detected.

Kardos frowned. "And you trust it?"

"More than I trust you..." Sveta retorted. "But there isn't much choice...if this fails, we all do..."

"And that is?"

"I need to reseal the centre, reform the shield Merlin broke. Try to save some of the power at the core before its too late..."

"And after that..."

"I'm not thinking that far ahead yet..." And with that Sveta left.

So here I am, she thought, half carrying Olga past some withered undergrowth. She was growing more concerned with every step, she was sure the glade should be near by now, and Olga's unresponsiveness played on her mind. Had she left it too long to help her friend? It was no good thinking about that now, it wouldn't make a difference either way if she couldn't find the glade.

Tripping on a rock, Sveta slipped onto one knee, the sharp pain jerked her head up. The area seemed familiar. She hadn't noticed, being deep in thought, but this looked like the edge of the place she was looking for.

It had never looked like this.

The twisted trunks of trees lay scattered before her like Olympian hurdles, their foliage scattered and pulped to a decaying mess underfoot. The flowers were just a mere memory, the petals long since fallen, their fragrance lost in the stench of rot.

Sveta, a sob catching in her throat, hitched Olga higher in her arms and pressed on. Clambering over one log it disintegrated to the touch of her foot, a seething mass of white, squirming maggots spilled onto the ground and on her foot. She frantically shook them free, detesting the larvae almost to the point of phobia. Olga stirred for a moment, helping to distract her, before the insensate woman became still again.

Pressing on, ever mindful of the revulsion beneath her feet, Sveta muttered an almost silent plea to any deity that existed, praying that the rot hadn't reached through to the core, to the boy and his exquisite clearing.

It began to rain. Sveta was so lost in thought that she didn't notice it for some time. When at last the cold droplets penetrated her thin clothing she stopped an looked up. The scene was still desolate, as far as she could see through the twisted undergrowth, but the air felt less oppressive, the funk of decay washing away in the shower. Feeling her mood lighten a little, Sveta hitched Olga higher, her friends weight lessened a little by the small spell Sveta risked to reduce the burden. Olga was still a dead weight though, her muscular frame normally outweighing Sveta by kilogrammes, and the distance travelled, even with the aid of the spell, began to drain the last of her physical energy.

"Not ..far ..now ..not ..far ..now..." Sveta kept chanting to herself in time to her dragging footsteps. It was the music that broke her rhythm. Faintly, up ahead, the sweet melody began to draw her. Sveta forgot her tiredness and began to move, almost fleet footed despite her heavy load, towards the sound. It was different than last time, with a melancholy air to it, but still bittersweet, still irresistible.

She broke through into the clearing without warning, the rotting vegetation outside reaching right up to its borders. Glancing round she stepped a few paces further in, then lay Olga down on the still green grass, flowers raised up almost instantly and covered her friends body with their beautiful petals, the fragrance more sublime than ever. Sveta looked around the clearing, it seemed ominously small compared to last time, the decrepitude of the outside could be felt almost tangibly pressing in.

Mentally she called out to the boy, walking towards the pool near the centre. At first there was silence, the the rushes began to stir.

Sveta almost cried out when she saw him. The boys emaciated frame was stark contrast to the young child she had seen the last time. His eyes, now dry and beyond tears, were sunken and shadowed, his brow knotted in pain. His stick thin legs barely carried him forward, holding his skeletal hands outstretched to Sveta. She scooped him up and cradled him to her body, rocking back and forward, trying to stop her tears from wetting and chilling his frail torso. Carrying him back she kneeled down and laid the boy next to Olga. He lay quietly as the flowers grew up and around him, covering his cold form with a thick blanket of leaves. Sveta placed her hands on his face and gave him an image of what she was going to try and do. The boy nodded just once, then fell into a fitful sleep. Standing up again, Sveta cast her eyes around the ever shrinking glade, and wondered if she might be too late...

* * *

"I can bring Zabulon in, but getting him to help...that isn't going to happen." Anton paced the floor. "He's going to fight it all the way.."

"Even though it means he'll be powerless to if the Twilight fails? He'd do that?" Essa seemed shocked.

"He would. He isn't...normal...in his mind anymore. Something's broken up here." Anton tapped his head. "What he put me and Egor through, that is normal for him.. When he was sealed first time, I think something snapped. He isn't thinking straight, he's losing the ability for rational thought..."

"You call what he did rational!" Essa's voice raised to almost a shriek.

"It still took a lot of planning, a lot of deviousness. But he's losing it, totally..."

"He's becoming the rabid animal that he is..." Egor's voice drifted from the bedroom.

Essa put her hand over her mouth. "Oh Egor, I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

Egor stood in the doorway. "No I've been awake for a little while...listening.."

Anton looked at the young Dark one. He looked a lot better for his short rest. The sallow skin had disappeared and the trembling of his limbs had ceased. His eyes however, held a deep resolve, and almost a look of acceptance. "Feeling better?" Anton asked.

"Well enough." Egor replied. "And I have been thinking." He looked Anton directly in the eyes. "Can you capture him? Can you secure Zabulon and make him go where you want against his will?"

"I can and will do it gladly. But I cannot make him use his power...I can't touch him at all that way."

"No, but I can."

Essa touched Egor's arm. "Egor...no..."

Anton raised an eyebrow. "What does Essa mean?"

"Catch him, I'll control him, and it will probably kill him...or me...either way..I'll have my revenge."

"No Egor, I can't let you do that, what if it's you who dies, Zabulon might be borderline insane, but he's still incredibly strong..." Anton shook his head vigorously. "And what about your 'plan', the one you told me on the tower?"

Essa looked quizzically at the pair of them...Anton had omitted parts of the conversation at the top, he hadn't felt she needed to know.

Egor waved his hand. "Childish fantasies and yokel superstitions should remain as that. I cannot pass up this chance to kill or wound him deeply." He looked at Anton with an expression that sent a chill down the Neutrals spine. "You need me, there is no one else...and you know that.."

Essa looked helplessly at Anton as he nodded. "No you are right. But please Egor, don't let that bastard hurt you...I'll kill him myself before he did."

Egor placed his hands on Anton's shoulders. "No you won't, I wouldn't let you. You may be a 'freak' now, as you call it, but inside here.." he patted Anton's chest "..in here you're still Light and always will be. I promise to be careful...I just want to hurt the bastard...I can kill him another day." He walked over to the window. "No, I'll wait to kill him until he's sane enough to know what's happening to him... revenge is sweeter when its understood."

Essa stared at Egor, her bottom lip quivering, but she remained silent. Egor hugged her.

Anton looked at his watch. "Egor, we have to go, we have to find him yet."

"No need...I know where he is.."

"What?"

"He initiated me..."

Anton slapped his forehead. "Of course, I'm an idiot.!"

Essa flicked her glance between them both. Anton continued. "An Other tends to have a link to the one they are initiated with. It fades over time until it disappears. But with Egor still being..."

"Fresh blood.." the sarcasm in the young Dark ones voice was apparent. "Yes, I can tell where he is." He hugged Essa one more time. "Go ahead and move house tomorrow, I'll come to you when this is all over."

Anton almost voiced his concern about the move, then felt guilty that he had remained silent. He needed Egor desperately, if the boy went off to keep an eye on Essa he might lose the only chance he had to get Nadya back. So he remained silent, and hated himself for it.

"I have to go." Egor said eventually. "Don't worry about me."

"You know I will." She replied, then said no more.

Anton said "Now?" Egor nodded. "Can you trace him?" Anton almost hoped Egor couldn't.

"Quite clearly, now I turn my mind to it." Egor replied. "Zabulon hasn't tried to cover his tracks at all for sometime. So self-assured... or too far gone to care..." It was a bitter sound from the youth's mouth. Egor opened a portal. "I'll take us nearby..." he said, "I'm still not terribly accurate with these things."

"Nearby will do..." said Anton, stepping through. Egor followed and closed it behind him, leaving Essa stood looking at the empty space the pair of them had just occupied moments before, the reality of it all just sinking in. She slumped to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees, rocking gently. It didn't achieve anything, but it made her feel better...

* * *

Zabulon was screaming. He had turned up at his Dark HQ in a fury. Any remaining staff nearby had fled at his first bellows, trying to avoid death. He was too far gone in his own anger to even notice them. His informer had told him the Inquisitions plan, or at least that bitch Svetlana's. It might work. The thought drove his yowls even louder as he ripped at a wall with his bare hands. In human form he would have shredded his fingers in seconds, but as a demon his talons gouged the bricks like butter.

Word spread throughout the building. The Master had gone mad.

Rending the last of the wall down the ceiling collapsed on top of him. Zabulon just threw the beams aside like matchsticks. Hollering incomprehensibly he began to pummel the concrete floor beneath his feet. Somewhere, deep inside himself, he knew he had lost control, that precious commodity he had nurtured for centuries. He also knew, as the floor began to buckle and crack beneath his blows, that he wasn't alone inside his head anymore. Anton's meddling with his past had caused more than the loss of the Inquisition seal, it had opened the barriers in his mind. His past was leaking through.

No that was a lie...it had been happening for a long time...

At first it was just voices. Zabulon could easily ignore those, he'd heard them all his life. No, it was his past personalities trying to get through. Not the weakling boy he had been, Zakhar had been totally crushed at his initiation. No, it was the darker side, which had lain brooding and fragmenting over the millennia. Now it had become an army, a thousand cries for vengeance pushing forward, pressing against the thin shell of sanity Zabulon had built.

And now it was cracking.

Whooping with joy as the floor crumpled beneath him, Zabulon flung his arms out and swung from a beam, swinging like a Gibbon, as he watched the huge slabs shatter on the floor below. He was going to tear it down, tear down the whole building, tear everything down. The inner-army was in control. Far at the back of his consciousness, the Zabulon-that-was wailed in dismay. He didn't want the destruction of the Twilight, he had done things in recent years that even he couldn't condone. But he was the one walled away now, he was the one trapped in his own mind while the insanity reigned. He couldn't hide it anymore.

He really had gone mad...

He pleaded to the army from within the confines of his self-prison, please, leave the building alone. But he went unheeded, the multitude just laughed as they pulled down another wall. The building began to vibrate under the assault. Suddenly they stopped. Something had distracted them. Zabulon strained to looked through his eyes to catch a glimpse of what the mob had seen.

It was a portal opening.

Zabulon couldn't help pity who ever came though it. He screamed again when he saw who it was...


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I knew something was wrong before I had even finished passing through the portal. As my foot touch the floor on the other side it gave a lurch, almost unbalancing me. As I stumbled I felt Egor slam into the back of me and we both fell. Rolling to my hands and knees rapidly it was only then I became aware of the noise. Ducking as a piece of falling plasterboard just miss my face I heard Egor hiss "Bastard...over there.."

Turning round, I look, and almost, for a brief second, laughed. I saw Zabulon swinging from the denuded rafters, roaring incoherently and throwing down chunks of masonry in the same way a monkey throws shit. The mirth was short lived. I saw his eyes...and his three-stage aura...

"Egor...its not Zabulon anymore."

"What? I can see him...I know my own Father!" He leapt up.

The words struck deep. "But Egor, that's his body..." I stood up and dodged another piece of debris "… but its not him."

Egor looked at me puzzled, but quickly recovered. "I don't care who he is now, he has what we need."

"But Egor..."

"DO IT! He's charging up..."

I didn't want to. I knew what Egor was going to do and I knew what it might do to him, but my family was at stake and, despite my promise to never hurt him again, I had to save them first. I had to be quick, Egor could see the spell being prepared, I could see nothing, just the insanity behind his eyes, and the myriad of faces in his third aura. Reaching out to the few people still in the building I drew power, I'm ashamed to say I didn't regulate, just took what I could get, I don't know if it killed anyone but I didn't have the time to think about it. Forming the shield I had used last time on the Dark one, I flung it over him, just as Zabulon dropped from the ceiling and released the spell.

Even with my unusual power the shield barely held. The shock from it recoiled through my connection, knocking me down again. I was trembling, if that had not stopped him the spell he'd just released, the amount of power in it, would have taken out half of Moscow.

"Egor..." I rasped, still stunned by the force "…. He's trying to drain himself..."

Egor spun round to look at me and for a fleeting moment I could see the fear in the boys eyes. Then they changed, the resignation in them made me want to cry.

"Is he bound?" he asked.

Another violent spell rocked the shield, and me, but still held. I drew a little more and strengthened it, knowing I was killing someone somewhere, but trying to save the mad bursts from destroying thousands. I couldn't speak, so I just nodded. Egor moved forward. "Wait!" I managed to croak. "If you go inside it he'll fry you."

"Can you protect me?"

Damn it Boy... I thought.

"I can try." I drained from as wide a net as I could and shielded him to. Egor began to approach Zabulon, who was looking at the boy with a strange, curious gaze. While the crazed leader was distracted I opened a tiny gap in the first shield, letting Egor through. Once inside I couldn't hold the second shield, they both merged into one. I didn't know that would happen, it was all new to me. But it didn't seem to matter. Zabulon had stopped his attacks and was watching Egor. There was no recognition on his face. Egor whispered something to him and almost lovingly placed his hands either side of the demons head, closing his eyes. The demon did the same. Then everything went silent...

* * *

"Father, I have come for you..." whispered Egor. Zabulons eyes were blank. For a fleeting moment Egor understood what Anton had said, but it didn't stop him. Taking his fathers head in his hands he was at a loss for a moment what to do next, he had never done it before. Egor was unprepared when Zabulons hands came up and took hold of Egor's head. Suddenly the Multitude decided to press against the doors to his mind. Egor resisted for a brief moment but couldn't hold them back; The locks to his psyche shattered, With a fanfare of triumphant screeches they flooded in, invading all his thoughts, devouring his memories, raping his soul. Egor wanted to scream but he was frozen, they wouldn't let him. He tried to drag his hands away, but he wasn't in control any more.

Egor wailed silently, he could feel his sense of self being stripped clean...and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Zabulon-within roared and battered against his barriers. No...not the boy...not his son! He always wanted him as a Dark one since he knew of Egor and his sister's existence, but not the way it had happened, not this way...

He could see the lad slipping away. It drove Zabulon to a frenzy. Calling up every ounce of resistance he concentrated on the one spot in the mental blockade. Pummelling with blows faster than the eye would have been able to see if in the real world, he forced a tiny crack. Spurred on he thrust his huge claws into the gap and forced it wider. The fortification began to give way. With a triumphant bellow, Zabulon burst through, and was swept along with the torrent of darkness. He could see the boy ahead of him, he ploughed through, no thought to the damage he might cause to his own mind as he swept twisted personalities aside.

Zabulon just reached Egor as he saw the lad being carried over the edge of a metaphorical precipice. Egor was clinging on by his fingertips, the Multitude were pulling at him, entering his body through all his orifices, trying to pull him over, weigh the youth down like a rock in flood-waters. Zabulon flung himself forward, landing on his stomach and reached out a hand.

"Grab on boy!" he yelled.

Egor looked up at him, the pleading look on his face turning to terror. His fingers began to slip...then jerking free he began to slide away. Roaring in frustration, Zabulon lunged forward and caught the boy by his wrist, hauling him back against the tide. He could feel the bones in Egor's wrist grinding under the strain but he couldn't relax his hold now. He heaved and felt his own joints popping against the pressure pulling at his son. Zabulon snorted, the one thing the Multitude didn't have was the determination he had cultivated for so long, the discipline. It came in useful now.

Absorbing, almost relishing, the pain, Zabulon lifted the now comatose youth above his head and roared. The Multitude stopped, fell back a little. Grasping his son to him, he placed his forehead against the boys, at the same time forming his own barriers between themselves and the Multitude. Using Egor's eyes he looked out from inside his mind and saw Anton waiting. He had to get a message through. Using the last of his willpower he formed the words on Egor's lips, as the Multitude pressed in closer...

* * *

It seemed like hours, but in truth it couldn't have been more than a few minutes and nothing happened. I watched the pair of them locked together, unmoving, silent. I'd seen mind battles before, but they usually took just a few seconds. This was too long, and too quiet, the only sound coming from the bits of plaster and debris falling and settling in the dust. I could hear a siren wailing somewhere outside and was acutely aware of the seconds passing. Sveta would be starting her plan soon, if she hadn't already.

Time was running out.

I was split with indecision. Whether to wait and see what happens, or whether to take them both as they were, while still inside the shield, and hope for the best. I don't think I ever felt so impotent and powerless at that moment... Me...the freak...and the only one with the power to do anything, and I was doing nothing.

I almost yelled in triumph when Egor's eyes snapped open but when he spoke I froze. It was Zabulon's voice coming from the boys lips!

"Get...us...there...now..."

I knew where there was, but I was reluctant to do anything the Demon said. Until I looked at his eyes... they were...pleading? This was the Zabulon I knew, hated, but knew. If I'd still been a Light one I might have ignored him and carried on waiting for a message from Egor. But, as I was, I could see this was all I was going to get. I could see the tri-aura of both of them, and the massive blackness looming up on the pair. They were both in mortal danger. If it was just Zabulon I would have left him to his fate, but I couldn't let Egor suffer the same end.

I began to weave a portal. I didn't realise I was yelling, screaming at it to hurry up, as I did it. The portal had barely finished forming before I began pulling at the locked pair, dragging the dead weight into it. I felt something click in my back, the same area I'd damaged in the emergency plane portal, but I ignored it. Bundling them against the portal I pushed them through as soon as it was big enough, flinging myself after them, hoping I'd got the exit right because there was no way I could drag the pair of them far...

* * *

"In position..." the radio crackled. Kardos nodded. He hated using them but he couldn't communicate any other way. As close to the Twilight as he could get in his current state phone signals wouldn't work from his relay just inside, but, strangely, normal walkie-talkie signals could...just.

"Start the link, and may the Twilight preserve you all". He turned the radio off and flung it to the ground. Whatever happened next, either way, good or bad, there would be no more messages. So few, so few were left of sufficient power to make a difference, just a few hundred. He was mildly surprised that they had all come, but then, maybe not, not when they all knew what the alternative was.

There had been inevitable arguments. The Master Inquisitor smiled grimly. The possible ending of our kind and each side still bickers and fights for superiority. For a moment he sympathised with Robert. Should he just have walked away and let it all come to an end? Let us die out? He shook his head. He couldn't, if the Twilight died they would all eventually 'die' and pass into a never ending limbo. He was almost as much responsible for Others as Robert was, and it weighed heavy on his mind. So he crushed the dissenters with well aimed words. Kardos laughed. The verbal 'pen' really is mightier than the sword at times.

He stood for a while silently, there was no way of knowing what was happening inside, he just had to hope, and trust for the first time in his life. Shoulders slumped, he walked back inside the building to his office. He had a letter to write...

* * *

"Olga, Olga, wake up, wake up Olga..." Sveta was gently shaking her prone friend. She had already tried a little water poured onto Olga's face, and had used healing spells to assess her, but still the woman would not wake. Sveta began to despair. Physically Olga was fairly okay, despite her earlier ordeals, but she was comatose. Sveta couldn't reach her.

"Oh Olga..." she whispered. She didn't want to take the link that connected her friend to her daughter, it would leave Olga with no power, at the centre she would drain fast and fade away, but she had no choice. Kissing her on the forehead, Sveta laid her friend back down on the flower-decked grass. Taking the link from Olga, Sveta connected herself to it. Immediately she could feel the surge of power through the umbilical. Glancing back at the woman on the grass, Sveta cast out a thin tendril, trying to supply enough power to keep her alive.

Through the main connection she tried her best to pour feelings of love and reassurance and was greeted by the same. Although she couldn't communicate actual words the knowledge that she was understood gave her confidence a boost. Trying to convey her actions so Nadya would understand, Sveta passed a sleep spell back along the link. She was going to have to draw a lot of power and didn't want her little girl to show any outward signs, alerting Robert. Sveta was in no doubt he knew what was happening, his own people were abandoning him, the danger to the Twilight affected them all. He had lied, and now they knew. She didn't doubt that a lot of them would be outside, in the remnants of the gloom, seeing the damage done and trying to reverse it. Sveta couldn't be angry at them, they were hoodwinked, the same as all the Others.

Robert had played a fine game.

Sveta was determined to reverse it.

When she felt her daughter sleeping, Sveta began to draw power. Slowly at first, she hated doing it, then faster when she realised the huge capacity her daughter had. It still amazed her, the capabilities this child of hers had, but even then it wasn't limitless, and not enough for the task in hand.

Using her mind, Sveta reached out beyond the edge of the glade, and found the first Other in the chain waiting for her. A Dark one, Higher like herself. She fought the instinctive revulsion and make herself lock on to him. He allowed it without protest, opening himself up as a conduit.

The power notched up a level. Sveta felt him reach out to the next one behind him, a Light Higher, who linked into the chain smoothly. As the lock was made, Sveta thought for a moment about the irony of the situation. Light and Dark had fought each other almost since their creation...and now to survive they had to work together again. How they must hate it!

The links were being made faster now, some doubling to increase exponentially, Sveta felt her own power increase, almost clicking up to a higher plain. She felt Nadya feeding more into her link, Sveta couldn't stop her if she tried. Even asleep the child knew what to do. Her entire body, glowing with white fire, began to float up off the floor. Sveta struggled to keep her thoughts under control, the infusion of power was orgasmic, it permeated every cell in her body, making then quiver and vibrate with sheer joy. She also knew the danger signs. This was the warning that she had drawn far more than was safe. She ignored it.

Seeing in her mind more than her eyes, which were dazzled by the glow, Sveta began to weave an intricate ribbon around the edge of the glade. Building it up like a wicker basket, she threaded layer after layer into the shield, drawing it tight and higher. Pulling in as much power as she could she thickened the ward, filling in gaps between the filaments.

Drawing more and more power as the shield grew higher and began to arc over her head, Sveta felt the first of the Others beginning to falter. But she couldn't stop now. Trying to draw in the top like a dome, Sveta began to sweat and shake, even more Others flickered out, she didn't know if she had burned them out to the point of death or not. Grasping at every last ounce of energy she pulled at the thread that would close the shield.

It wouldn't budge.

Crying in frustration she drew through Nadya's link, and even felt her begin to tire. It was so frustrating, so close...

There just wasn't enough power left to close the shield...


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I landed hard, but it didn't matter. Despite the frantically made portal I'd got the location right. But even as it slammed shut behind me I realised I had another problem...

How was I going to get them into the Twilight... and...more importantly... how could I use the power contained in them... I couldn't touch it and I didn't know how to feed it into the link.

Snarling with frustration I dragged the pair of them into the gloom as far as I could go. It was like swimming in molasses, the constant exertion against it tired me quickly. I dropped the shield, I couldn't hold it in here. I was about to give up when I saw a figure just ahead, almost obscured by the thick, stifling air. Giving it one last effort, I stumbled over to it, hauling the locked Dark any way I could.

It was a woman, she looked dishevelled and on the point of collapse. She turned to look at me and almost started to run. I held a hand up. "Wait!" I called. "I need help."

"We all need help!" she replied. "Everything... we're giving everything, but its not enough..."

I could see her deteriorating in front of me, she was almost through, a few more minute and death would claim her. But she wasn't giving in. I had to be quick.

"Look...I've got two more...but I don't know how to...use them.."

"Link up, like the rest of us!"

"I …...can't"

She peered at me, the exclaimed. "Where's your aura! What's that?" She pointed at the rotating diamond in my chest, making me suddenly very conscious of its presence.

"I..."

"Oh fuck, you're Anton aren't you?"

I could see her wobbling on her feet. I held out a hand to hold her steady...time was almost up.

"Yes, and I've two more here, they're... "

"I'm sorry, so sorry..." she almost grovelled at my feet. "I was one of the Others...misled..by Robert. That bastard lied to us, to us all. When we found out we all left, we're here now. I'm here, I came to make amends, to put right the crap he's left us in... He's...got your daughter..."

I frowned. "I know... but not now. Can you find someone to help with these two?" I pointed at the prone figures.

She looked at them, briefly forgetting they were there through the fugue of her exhaustion. "I recognise the demon, but...not the boy." She frowned. "Why are they like that?"

"No time to explain... I just need a way to link them in... but..."

The woman sighed. "I'll do it..."

"No, wait!" but it was too late. She placed a hand on the forehead of both of them.

And screamed...

* * *

Zabulon snarled at the horde one more time, but he knew it wouldn't keep them back any longer. He looked down at Egor, unconscious in his arms. His bitter mood tasted like bile in his mouth. He had never wanted it to end like this. He had wanted to go out in a blazing battle, not slinking away in his own piss, too crazy to care. And now his madness was going to take the boy as well.

Well he was not going down without a fight.

The Multitude gave a blast like a million voices as it sense victory near. Zabulons own roar was lost in the sound. As the Army charged forward they were suddenly thrown into disarray as a woman appeared in front of them, facing the two trapped Dark ones.

Everything fell silent. She turned around slowly and saw them, the myriad of fractured personalities. Her scream galvanised the Multitude. With a clarion call they surged forward, burying her in seconds. As they entered her mind, her soul, Zabulon suddenly felt the outside link course through them, reaching himself and then Egor. As she was swept away Zabulon forced the link wider, using the unseen Other as a conduit he began to pump power through. She burned out in seconds, but it didn't matter, the link had been made.

POWER... the sudden surge almost caught him off-guard. Shuddering under the onslaught he looked down to see Egor's eyes open, vacantly staring off into some unknown. The power came from him, using Zabulon as the link.

For the first time in his life, Zabulon felt pride for someone other than himself. Even in his catatonic state, Egor still had enough reserves of will that left Zabulon reeling. Gathering himself, he looked around at the Horde surrounding them. The power had them subdued, frozen, unable to refuse the call of the link. Zabulon snarled again, then merged his force with Egor's. As he pumped out more energy than he had ever done in his life he felt everyone in the link almost buckle under the excess...except one.

Zabulon couldn't contain a laugh when he remembered the irony of who he was helping...

It was all he could do...

* * *

I couldn't save her, for a few brief moments I thought it would be okay, even though she had screamed, but when she started to glow, so powerful that even I could see it in my state, so powerful the air around her boiled for a microsecond I knew she was gone. It was for the best, I'd seen her aura change... I never even knew her name, or whether she was Light or Dark, and then I understood...it didn't matter. For once alignment didn't apply anymore.

I couldn't get any deeper in, so I sat on the slime covered ground and waited.

It was all I could do...

* * *

"It's...not...enough!" Sveta was struggling to hold on to the thread of the weave. She was pulling desperately at it, to close off the dome shaped shield over the glade. She knew the Others outside were failing, she could feel all their pain and desperation through the connection, and the first ones beginning to drop out, Sveta didn't know if they were dead or not, but she suspected it, because it didn't matter. If they all failed they were as good as dead anyway. So they gave their all.

Sveta tried to draw more through Nadya, but the child was tiring fast. Worry niggled at the back of Sveta's brain but she ignored it. The thread began to flicker, almost winking out completely at one point. Crying in frustration, Sveta drew more of her own power than she had ever done. She felt the start of the burn-out lapping at her body but she ignored that to.

The fresh power hit her like a brick, almost knocking her off her feet. Someone else had joined, someone as strong as her! Backtracking the flow she felt nauseated at what she found, who she found, but there was a job to do. Flinging the extra energy into the ribbon, Sveta threaded it around the top of the shield and pulled, draining the last drop she could from the new source. For a few agonising seconds she thought nothing was happening, then, slowly and inexorably, the top began to close.

Hooting with joy, Sveta tied off the weave, it was self sustaining now, and released the link a little at a time, too fast and it would cause a backlash, blasting all the ones left connected. Lastly she stopped drawing from Nadya. Sending thoughts of deep love down the connection to her little girl she was alarmed to get no reply. Sveta knew she hadn't burned her daughter out, but something was still draining her. Realisation dawned. As the last of the shield closed around her, Sveta threw a anguished message out to all the Others still capable of hearing her. She only had a fraction of a second to force it through, before the shield slammed shut, trapping her and her unconscious friend inside. The message was simple.

Find Nadya, Robert is draining her life force, Olga didn't wake up, and tell Anton sorry, and I love him.

She stood a long time looking at the enclosing barrier all around her, before slipping down to her knees and weeping, the flowers springing forth where her tears fell on the ground. She prayed, for the first time since she was small, for someone to save her daughter.

There was nothing more she could do...

* * *

Zabulon grunted in pain as the last of his strength poured into the link. Egor, still comatose, was sweating heavily and panting. The Multitude had fallen back, cowed down by the effort, they began to fade into the background. The drain stopped abruptly, barely allowing time to prevent a backlash. Zabulon reigned in the flow as fast as he could, but he still ached from head to toe. Looking down at the boy still in his arms he could tell Egor faired no better. But the end of the drain could only mean one of two things...

Either the Light bitch had succeeded or failed. And it didn't feel like a failure.

Zabulon whooped; The Horde stayed back. The whole thing had bought him some time. Enough, he hoped, to get his revenge on the one who started all this in the first place... Robert.

His burning desire to destroy the man gave Zabulon renewed vigour. Placing mental hands onto Egor's back, he pushed the boy out of his psyche. As the youth disappeared, Zabulon gave one last snarl at the Multitude and stepped forward, out of his mindscape...

* * *

I don't know how long I was sat there for, time doesn't exist in the same sense as it does on the outside. I was numb, inside and out, the grey light emitted from my torso jewel seemed to fade, as though my body didn't have the will to power it any more. The silence was oppressive, almost tangible, the complete cessation like a pronouncement on my failings. I looked down at the patch of slimed soil where the female Other had fallen, gone now into the Twilight, while it still existed. I felt sickened, I had tried to stop her, but it was no good. Maybe she knew, maybe it was her way of... I didn't know, and knew I never would.

A faint stirring made me jerk my head round. I saw Zabulon release his hand-hold on the boy, Egor's had already loosened his grip. Turning his head, the Dark Leader peered at me. I froze. In here I was powerless, and for a moment could understand Roberts aversion to the Twilight. But I forced myself not to flee. There was no point, where could I go?

It took almost a minute before I realised I was staring at Zabulons eyes. Then it dawned on me. They were sane. I could see in his third aura the masses still there, still waiting for an opportunity to push forward once more, but for now it was the true Zabulon looking at me.

And they contained murder, I knew it wasn't my own.

Before I knew what I was doing, I stood and I held out my hand; Zabulon took it roughly and hauled himself up, trying to hide the frown of pain on his brow. "How's Egor?" I blurted out.

"He'll live." came Zabulons terse reply.

"Bastard." I muttered flatly, aimed at no one in particular, and with no emotion, except maybe guilt, it was myself who had caused it in the first place. I didn't have chance to say anything more as we both glimpsed a figure limping through the mist. Then another, and another. Others, returning back, dragging themselves exhaustedly, carrying those that had passed out. No point carrying the dead as the Gloom would claim them. They came towards me then passed by, like a small stream flowing round a pebble. Some looked, but most were too fatigued to care, using all their last strength to leave the sapping mists. There seemed so few, so few to have achieved anything, but not one of them seemed defeated, the air of finality lacking in their stances.

So they had succeeded. I wanted to say something, to congratulate them. I wanted to see my wife. But I stood silently and let them pass me by, suppressing my shock at the state of some of the Higher Others coming through. One collapsed at my feet, but as I kneeled to help him, two more stooped and grabbed him by the shoulders, dragging him along with them.

The flow began to peter out. They were coming out in just ones and twos now. One man, I didn't need to see aura's to know he was Dark, saw me and stopped.

"You are Anton." he said, a statement, not a question. "I have a message for you from Sveta."

"Sveta, where is she? Is she coming?" I said, a strange chill creeping down my spine. I tried to glance over his shoulder but even on my tip-toes he was a good six-inches too tall, even when stooped a little with the tiredness that permeated his manner.

"She isn't coming. Just as the barrier closed I got a message blasted through. 'Find Nadya, Robert is draining her life force, Olga didn't wake up, and tell Anton sorry, and I love him.' "

I felt my whole world caving in around me. Olga didn't wake, that meant Sveta was trapped on the wrong side of the shield. And that bastard had broken his promise. His followers had left him, so he was using the only source he had left.

Nadya.

I think I howled. I didn't even feel Zabulon put his hand on my arm and pat it. I didn't feel any revulsion at his touch, like I usually did. Turning to him, he just nodded. Now we had a common enemy, a same goal. I asked the Dark giant who gave me the message to take Egor out of the Twilight. He nodded and lifted the youth as though he were a small child.

Once Egor was gone I turned to Zabulon. "End game" I said. Zabulon smiled and nodded. Stepping out of the Twilight we both emerged into the car park by the Inquisition headquarters. Closing my eyes I let my senses fly out, seeking, sniffing.

Coffee...

I nodded back to Zabulon, I think the look of hate on my face made him step back for a moment. But I didn't care any more. I just opened a portal and motioned him to follow.

Now there was finally something I could do...I and was going to do it...


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Its funny how portals can convey light and sound, but not temperature, or I might have hesitated. As I stepped through, the sudden drop in centigrade took my breath away. Within seconds I was shivering, staring at the expanse of white before me. Zabulon showed no reaction to the chill, or at least not outwardly. But it had been summer in Moscow and the whole of the northern hemisphere was basking in the warmest one in a century, my light-weight suit did nothing to keep out the cold.

Or the snow.

The air itself was frigid, every exhale turning to ice crystals before it left my mouth. Flakes of white began to lodge in my hair, freezing solid. The sky was dim grey, I couldn't tell where the sun was, or even if it had risen. I tried to draw a little power to keep warm, but I couldn't find anyone. I tried further, further out. Nothing. There was no one I could find but me and Zabulon, no one for miles...

Where the hell were we?

Zabulon was staring off into the distance. I was tempted to draw a little of his lifeforce but decided against it. Instinct told me I needed him at full strength, and if I tried I'd get more than I bargained for. So I tried to use a little of my own, I quickly found it was defeating the issue. As I drew some to keep warm, my body lost energy and chilled more, it would have soon become a vicious cycle. So I just stood, miserable and cold. I might be Neutral but I was still an Other. It wouldn't kill me, at least I didn't think it would, but it was damn painful.

Zabulon reached into a fold of the tattered jacket he was wearing and pulled out a small, rectangular device. Frowning at the screen for a few seconds he turned to me and grimaced. "Have you any idea where you've brought us?"

I shook my head.

"The Antarctic." Zabulon thrust smart phone under my nose, the sat-nav clearly showing our position, and, of course, a complete lack of telephonic signal. I baulked for a fraction of a second, a little incredulous, all that way on a single portal, and I never even broke into a sweat. I also knew we had to move fast. It was winter here, if I felt cold now, it would be nothing compared to how I'd be if a storm kicked up. Cold might not kill me, but it could freeze the pair of us solid. I sniffed the horizon and picked up the scent quickly. I prepared to make a portal closer to its source.

Nothing happened.

Puzzled, I tried again, drawing off my lifeforce. Still nothing. It took a full minute before I guessed at what was happening. Staying alive here was taking so much energy I have nothing left to use. Zabulon was watching me, waiting. I hated it, but I had to tell him. "I...cant make a portal. I don't have enough energy, and there's no one close enough to draw from."

Zabulon crouched and struck his fist against the ice, making the ground shudder. I expected his rage, I expected him to turn on me, it would have been the perfect opportunity. Instead he just looked and said "Me?"

"I don't think I should."

He just nodded. No need to explain to him, he understood.

"Can you make one if I give the direction?" I asked him.

Zabulon stood back up and stirred the snow with one of his feet. "Same problem... don't think I didn't just try. I can't draw from you..."

I thought of Kostya and his fate. It didn't need outer space to cut Others off from humans, just sufficient distance and isolation. Robert knew this as well, he had led us here. Except he had Nadya as a battery.

Now I knew why he was draining her.

Anger flared again, pushing back location concerns. I turned to Zabulon. "We have a long walk then, come on.." I set off over the uneven surface, the odour visible in my mind. Zabulon fell in behind as we set off silently across the desolate land...

* * *

Kardos pushed his chair back from the desk and removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes then crossing his arms. The paperwork was done, his letter finished and sealed. Everything left in neat and tidy order. Which ever way everything ended, his time was nearly up. He was even ready for limbo, if that was what it came to. Leaning forward, he rested his folded arms back onto the desk and lowered his forehead onto them. He was tired, so tired. Too much life had been granted to him when it was never asked for, and now it was leaving him again.

Kardos was drifting off to sleep when an almost inaudible sound startled him awake. Blinking for a moment, unsure if he had been mistaken, he heard the sound again. A faint scuffing. It was behind a panel in the wall. Kardos stiffened. He was the only one who knew it wasn't just a panel, there was a room behind. In it was contained all the most sensitive documents, artefacts and items collected since the Inquisition began. Those deemed too controversial to be general knowledge.

Or too dangerous.

Rising silently from his chair, Kardos moved with cat-like stealth over to where he kept the key. It wasn't warded, or guarded, or even magical in any way, and that had been its protection. An Other would always look for power, disregarding anything without it. He reached up and pushed a spring on the top of the bookcase. A tiny draw popped out at his feet. Inside the key lay. Kardos picked it up and looked at it. It was old, the teeth worn from use, but still solid, the patina of time giving its iron body a black sheen. It seemed undisturbed. He was about to put it back when he noticed a minuscule while fleck on the shaft just before the teeth. He studied it closer, then ran his fingernail across it. It yielded to the touch. Putty.

Gripping the key tightly in his fist, Kardos looked at the panel/door. Someone had copied the key. It was the only way to access the rooms contents. The key might not contain power, but the wards around the hidden room did. Any type of spell-made entry, Dark, Light, even Neutral, would trigger the incendiaries within the small space, destroying anything and anyone inside. Any portal would result in death. The only way in was with this single copy of the key.

Except it wasn't single anymore...

Another noise. Kardos moved over to the panel and slipped the key into the concealed lock. The door swung open silently. As he glimpsed who was inside, and at the gun pointed straight at his head, it dawned on him who the only other person who might have know where the key was..

"You!..." he said.

* * *

"Nights falling." Zabulon growled. Anton just nodded and continued placing one foot in from of the other. The Dark one seethed, channelling his anger into energy and warmth. He envisioned the myriad of ways he wanted to extinguish Roberts life, each one more exaggerated than the last, as the needles of ice turned to daggers in his joints.

It was hard to tell exactly when the sun set and the moon rose, the overcast sky gave little illumination from either, it was the drop in temperature that signalled the transition. After a short, blizzard-like downfall the snow had stopped, leaving them to plough through the knee deep whiteness, the relentless wind robbing them of precious body heat.

Zabulon tried to hide his discomfort, before realising Anton was too far gone in his own suffering to care. One positive side to the bitter, frigid cold was it kept the Multitude inside him suppressed, allowing him more borrowed time to get to his goal. Zabulon almost tripped as his numb foot caught a chunk of ice below the snow; He wasn't sure the price was worth it.

Lost in his own thoughts he didn't realise for a few minutes that Anton had disappeared. His chill-slowed brain took a moment to comprehend, then he frantically began to back-track, blindly searching depressions in the snow. His hands felt something and he jerked up, lifting Anton out of the frozen precipitation. Anton was unconscious, his skin turning blue, his breath non-existent.

"No you don't, idiot" Zabulon muttered. "You're the only one who knows where we're going..."

He scraped the dip in the snow deeper and, holding Anton close to his chest, nestled down. Using his demon physiology Zabulon rose his body temperature as much as he could, pumping his meagre heat reserves into the frozen man. Time seemed to stand still while he waited for Anton's heartbeat to strengthen while he felt his own beginning to hiccup in its rhythm. Agonisingly slowly, Anton began to stir. Grunting heavily, Zabulon stood up, carrying the still semi-comatose man, and began to drag himself across the snowfield in the direction they had been going. It was as good as a direction as any, and if something didn't appear soon it wouldn't matter anymore...

* * *

Sveta sat quietly by the pool. She had paced the perimeter of the shield enough for one day. It held, just, but the pressure outside it was a palpable thing. She had even seen a few bulges where the incessant miasma tried to push through. Sveta was under no illusions, she had bought them time, but nothing more. Eventually the blockade would give, and the Twilight would end.

Not that she thought that she would live long enough to see it.

The drain on her hadn't ceased when the shield had been closed, she never expected it would, but keeping herself and Olga alive was pushing her to the edge now. The boy couldn't help, it was beyond his comprehension, and he had settled down to sleep in his favourite reed bed. But the heady aromas of the flowers in the glade helped ease Sveta's physical pains. They did nothing for the emotional ones.

Sighing, Sveta looked across to Olga, now more sleeping than in a coma, and knew a decision had to be made, to carry on supporting them both, or letting her friends link go to buy herself a few more days of life in the hope someone could save her.

Except no one could save her. She didn't know how to open the shield, when it was sealed she had sealed it for good. She might as well remained linked then, as the outcome would be the same. Relieved, but saddened by the decision, Sveta kept the connection open, knowing the result.

So she sat, thinking of her family, trying to remember only the good times, easing her soul and preparing for the end. Sveta had been surprised when night fell for the first time in the glade, but not now. She knew the days didn't correspond to the outside, but they were reassuring nonetheless. As a new night fell she prepared to go to sleep... and knew she would probably not wake up in the morning...

* * *

Zabulon's breath came in rasping gasps, icy tendrils creeping inexorably through his lungs. The sun still hadn't risen, not that it could have been seen through the snow-laden clouds, the temperature lowered even more. Dragging the prone Neutral behind him like a rag doll, Zabulon staggered through the deep drifts. It took him a few minutes to see the blurred shapes in the near distance. Breaking the icicles from his eyebrows, he wiped his face with numb fingers, trying to clear his vision.

He wasn't mistaken. Ahead lay hump-like structures poking through the permafrost. Increasing his pace, Zabulon headed towards them. Rapidly they revealed themselves more. They looked like old Nissen huts, the type common in World War II. Zabulon could tell even this far out that they were much more sturdy than their elderly, shed-like counterparts. As he approached he saw antennae and aerials poking out of the roofs, a spinning, cupped anemometer measuring the relentless, soughing wind. A research station.

Almost running now, Zabulon reached the wall, almost fully buried, just the curved roof showing above the snow. He didn't stop to dig down in order to look for a door, instead he mustered up the last of his energy and smashed his talons through the visible roof section, peeling back a chunk of screaming, protesting metal and insulation. When the hole was big enough he dragged Anton over and unceremoniously dropped him through it, casually wondering how far below the floor was. Swinging through himself, Zabulon gripped the edge of the rendered piece and, swinging from it like he had done from the rafters of his own headquarters, swung his feet up to brace himself against the roof, pulled the torn section closed again.

Dropping to the floor, noting in passing that it wasn't far and he might even have to slightly stoop when... if... he ever stood up, he tripped up over Anton and fell heavily to his knees. Panting in ragged breaths Zabulon allowed himself to relax, the cold air positively balmy compared to the hyperboreal night outside. The inside of the hut was pitch black, but Zabulon didn't need light, his demon senses more than made up for the lack of illumination. From the smells assailing his nostrils he could tell they had landed in a large store room, paper, ink and paraffin wax purveying the air.

Crawling slowly towards what he sensed was a wall he reached out with his hand, touching metal legs. Tracing his hand up he found a set of free standing shelves. Standing up, he allowed his acute smell to guide him to the source of the paraffin odour. Reaching out Zabulon's hand alighted on what he was looking for. Picking up the storm-lamp, he shook it gently. The sloshing indicated it was nearly full. Using a minute amount of power he lifted the glass cover and lit the wick. The sudden, blinding light almost made him drop the lamp for a moment. Taking a few deep breaths he close the cover and stood the lamp back on the shelf.

Anton began to stir, Zabulon ignored him and continued to examine the shelves. There was rows of them, most empty but some still containing boxes of canned supplies. He found camping equipment in a corner, stacked ready for use, rummaging through it, pulled out a camping stove. Hunting back on the shelves Zabulon found a jerry can and filled it with some of the snow that had fallen through the hole with them, leaving a slow melting mound on the floor. Throwing in a handful of tea leaves he sat back and waited for it to boil. He looked around him, there was a door off to his right, a thin layer of dust had built up on the floor by its raised frame, indicating that at least this room, if not the whole base, hadn't been used for some time. The neatly piled equipment showed it wouldn't be abandoned forever though. The researchers probably left until winter was over.

Lucky bastards.

The strong brew was just coming to the boil as Anton awoke. Groaning he pulled himself up into a sitting position and leaned back against the wall. Silently, Zabulon poured some of the beverage into an empty jar he found and handed it to Anton. Anton reached out for it but his hand trembled so violently he lowered it back down again. Zabulon took hold of Anton's hand and clasped it around the jar. The heat almost burned Anton's fingers, but the scalding warmth stopped the tremors. Slowly he raised the jar to his lips and sipped. Zabulon grunted and, taking the jerry can off the stove, took a swig.

The fug of cold seeped out of Anton. He looked around, still sipping at the hot tea. He stared up at the ceiling, the faint outline from the tear just visible in the dim lamp light. "How..." the rest of the question remained unsaid.

"I brought you, weakling." Zabulon sneered, but without much conviction in his voice. He stood up and perused the shelves again, finding a second lamp. He lit it the same as the first and brought it back to where Anton was seated. He didn't notice the Neutrals look of astonishment at first, then frowned. "What?"

"You lit the lamp, without a match."

"Yes...and?"

"Where did you draw from?"

Zabulon stopped and looked at the lamp incredulously. "I didn't think...I just did it."

Anton looked at his drink in the increased lighting. "This is tea isn't it? Then why did I think it was coffee?" Dawning crossed his face.

"Zabulon, he's here, Robert is here!"...


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Nadya sat quietly on the pallet bed, fighting sleep. Robert was paced up and down. She knew the man could tell daddy was nearby. But he couldn't tell where. Nadya smiled to herself, she still had little ways of helping. Even as the man drew on her lifeforce and kept her shielded, she could fog his mind through the same shield. She was so very tired now though. But if she fell asleep, the fog would drop and the man would find daddy before he was ready.

So Nadya stayed awake. Daddy was coming, coming to save her...

* * *

Zabulon snarled. "Lets move then!"

"Wait...how are we going to tackle him?"

Zabulon smiled, his countenance fill with death. "I'm going to rip him apart... slowly, piece by piece."

"We need him in the Twilight. I think he's the only one who can stop all this! And as soon as you get near him he'll start draining your life. If he doesn't kill Nadya first out of spite."

Zabulons eyes sparkled. "Then he's going to get more than he could ever hope to handle...So, do you have a plan?"

Anton ran his hands through his head. "No, not until I know where he is."

"Then like I've already said...lets move!" Zabulon leapt to his feet and dragged Anton up. Limping on wobbly legs Anton followed Zabulon to the door. Silently, the demon turned the handle and inched the door open. Glancing through the gap with his superior night vision he took in the layout beyond. A corridor. Anton turned to retrieve a lamp, but Zabulon motioned him to leave it.

"He might see that coming.." he whispered.

Anton nodded. Zabulon took Anton's hand and led him blindly into the darkness. As they passed each door, trying not to slip on the slick, frozen floorboards, Zabulon squeezed Anton's fingers. Stopping for a moment or two, the Neutral would sniff, then squeeze back negative. Towards the end of the corridor, Zabulon didn't stop anymore, he saw a tiny chink of light at the end. Anton began to tug at Zabulon's arm. He looked round and saw the man nodding vigorously. Zabulon could feel bile build up at the back of his throat. As he reached for the handle, Anton stopped him and gestured. Zabulon bent down, Anton whispered in his ear.

"Let me go first, if I fail, he's yours..."

"That wasn't the bargain, freak...the man is mine..."

"Then wait till I can get you a clear shot at him...we only have one chance at this."

Zabulon seethed with impatience, but agreed, hiding back in the shadows. Anton took the handle instead and, without hesitation, threw the door open...

* * *

The boy shook Sveta awake. With great difficulty she opened her sunken eyes. It wasn't yet fully light but something had the boys interest. Sveta wished he had left her to sleep. She had prepared herself for the end that night, and was surprised to wake, feeling slightly cheated of the death she had expected.

The boy, seeing she was awake, gestured towards the shield wall. Sveta thought he was trying to get her to repair a weak spot. "Sorry..." she whispered. "...I can't do any more." She started to lie back down when the boy shook her again, pointed almost excitedly at the wall. Sveta took a few deep breaths, trying to clear the fogginess from her exhausted mind. She glanced over to where the boy pointed, but she couldn't see anything.

Puzzled she asked "What...what is it?"

The boy smiled and ran over to the edge, where he stood, as if waiting for something. Sveta crawled over to the shield wall and sat on the grass. She still couldn't see anything and wondered if the boy was welcoming the end of the barrier, embracing death in the same way she had been ready to embrace it, but his whole demeanour didn't seem to be one of acceptance. So she sat and waited with him... it was as good a way as any to pass the last moments of her life...

* * *

Robert didn't heard the door open at first, he was pacing at the far end of the room. He startled when he turned, and saw Anton stood in the doorway.

"So, you came then, even here." he said.

"I've come for my daughter Robert, and to put an end to this little game of yours." Anton stepped in, but didn't close the door, wanting Zabulon to hear the conversation, to be ready.

Robert laughed. "You? What can you do out here? There isn't any one for you to draw on, only your brat over there, but you wont do that will you? I know you wont..."

"No, not like the way you are, you lying bastard. What happened Robert, all your little friends find out what you have done? Did they leave you, or did they chase you off first? After all, why hide out here, in the middle of nowhere...unless its to stop them from finding you."

"Bah, I don't need them, they were just a convenience."

Anton moved slowly away from the door, aware that Nadya was still behind Robert. "Such a convenience that you had to go to the end of the earth to escape them? I think not. The Others are baying for your blood Robert. They want revenge, for the deaths, for the false hate, for the years of lies and deceit. Your time is up..."

"Hah! They are idiots, all of them, I'm giving them freedom, don't you see that! I'm giving them a chance to be human again!"

Anton edged a little further away from the door, making Robert turn slightly to follow him, a little further away from Nadya. "You're a coward, Robert, a child killing coward who isn't prepared to face the future, who is too scared what tomorrow will bring!" Anton began to circle around him.

Robert growled, turning to keep facing Anton. "You don't understand, I thought you of all people would understand..."

"Understand what?"

"You are a Neutral now, I thought you would have felt the power, the control, the responsibility you have over everything, everyone. You and me, we are the same... we are alike..."

"No...we are not alike...we never were, I'm not afraid of the future. I don't live in the past. I'll face what comes when it comes...I love my child..."

"Don't you think I did!" Robert screeched. "I'm doing this for him as well..."

"You are killing him a second time because you love him?"

"You don't understand, no one has ever understood! I did it all for him!" Robert was almost hysterical. His back was close to the door.

Anton took a step forward. "No, I don't understand, and I don't think I ever will. I do know one thing...this is from Sveta..." He threw a powerful right hook, smashing into Roberts jaw. The larger man staggered back under the force of the blow, his hands catching hold of the frame to stop himself falling. Anton nodded.

Robert was too dazed at first to notice the massive arms enclosing his chest in a crushing bear-hug. He looked up to see a drooling, demonic face staring down at him.

"Boo" said Zabulon.

Robert screamed. He instinctively turned his mind to the Dark one and began to draw at his life. The link to Nadya was broken, the shield dropped. Anton lunged at the bed and lifted Nadya into his arms, hugging her almost as tightly as Zabulon held onto the rogue Neutral.

"I'm going...to...kill..you" gasped Robert.

Zabulon leaned towards his ear. "Try it" he whispered.

Robert roared. He drew power, all focused, from the demons life force. Zabulon turned to his Multitude inside, and mouthed wordlessly 'now'. One by one, they came forward, full of pent up fury and frustration, baying for revenge. As Robert drained the life of one, another came forward, then another. He seemed oblivious to their presence, Zabulons laughter driving him on in a frenzy. The hoard were pushing forward by themselves now, pumping Robert full of more and more power. Anton knew Zabulon couldn't see it, but he had to shield his eyes with his hand from the glare.

Robert began howling in pain, the force being driven into him was more power than he had ever known. The base began to disintegrate around them, the walls billowed out and exploded, shattering into a million tiny fragments, scattering like shrapnel. The whirlwind created by the build up of force knocked Anton down; Still holding Nadya, he struggled to stand against the blizzard driven snow caught in the vortex. Zabulon was grunting with the effort to hold onto Robert, to give the man what he wanted, ultimate power,. Keening in agony, Robert tried to break away, but the demons will was stronger, his grip held.

When Anton saw Zabulon start to tire he shouted "NOW ZABULON! TAKE HIM IN!"

He watched as both of them faded, Zabulon smiling, Robert, a look of fear seared into his soul. The descending silence was only punctuated by the soft dull thuds of debris hitting the deep, drifted snow. Checking to see Nadya was alright he stepped into the Twilight after them, following in their wake.

The air around him broiled. He rapidly reach the limit he could enter, but he felt Nadya's hand slip into his and she jumped down, leading him deeper, level by level, running quickly, following the tortured path through the gloom.

Anton could sense the struggle up ahead, but he couldn't see, the air was suddenly filled with ghosts, spectral images of lost Others, all calling out, all urging him on. Relying wholly on his daughter, trusting her with his life, he followed, led by her hand, trying to run and avoiding tripping on the decayed undergrowth. He knew they were getting close, the atmosphere around them was tinged red as though on fire. Bursting through a clump of twisted, deformed bushes he saw Zabulon, panting and exhausted, still holding onto the blazing Neutral, whose entire body was almost invisible in the middle of the enormous energy ball that surrounded him. Zabulon's back was pressed up against the shield around the centre. Anton stared, fascinated at its mirror-like surface, then a thought stuck him like a thunderbolt.

"Zabulon! Turn around, press Robert onto the shield!" He cried, scooping Nadya up in his arms and turning his back to protect her.

With his last strength, Zabulon twisted his body around and slammed Robert against the reflective surface.

Anton thought for a brief moment he had gone deaf, the whole shield burst silently with a percussive force that lifted him off his feet and flung him and his daughter through the air. It took a second for the sound to catch up. The deep bass thud of the concussion rocketed out in a huge shockwave. The floor shook like a violent earthquake, throwing great gouts of funk and detritus high above him. Anton's eyes watered as the vibration irritated his sinuses and he hugged Nadya closer until the explosion died down. Turning back to where the shield had been he peered through the miasmic atmosphere. The sight before him left him lost for words.

Sveta had tried to describe the centre, the glade, but she hadn't come close to it. Carrying Nadya back he saw the border between the rancid outside, and the beauty Sveta had tried to save within.

Zabulon stared, Robert squirmed in his arms but the Neutrals power was spent, earthed, the shield acted like a giant lightning rod. In the Twilight he couldn't draw any more. The demon ignored him and began walking forward as if drawn.

Anton could hear the sweet music drifting from the verdant greenness and was lost in its melody for a few seconds before he saw Zabulon head inside. Nadya was pulling at his hand, eager to move, and Anton let her lead again. He began to feel dread when he saw prone figures lying on the grass, a profusion of flowers growing over their forms. He broke into a slow trot and almost stumbled as his foot hit the lush turf. Nadya released his hand and dropped beside the nearest body, stroking the hair. It sat up.

"Sveta!" Anton yelled, and raced to her side.

"A..Anton?" she stuttered. "Is...t..t..that you?"

Anton flung his arms around her and held her tight. Nadya was smiling. Suddenly Sveta jerked away. "How... the barrier... where..." She looked in horror. "No! The shield has gone, you broke it!"

"But Sveta, Robert is here..." he pointed over to Zabulon and the man held tightly.

"NOOOO!" Sveta tried to stand up, the wild look in her eyes piercing his soul. "Don't bring him here... he should be here...!

"Who, Robert?"

"No, Zabulon!" she struggled out of Anton's arms and crawled to the other prone figure, trying to protect it with her body. "Get him away! Now!"

Anton shook his head. "Sveta...you don't understand... things have happen..."

"I know what's happened! That bastard tried to kill Olga! He raped her, then battered her... leaving her for dead...If I hadn't...hadn't..." she stopped talking and looked past Anton, a look of horror crossing her face. "Oh no...the decay..."

Anton turned. The pestilence from outside was beginning to eat its way in, the first few feet of healthy ground already turning to putrescence. He stood, aghast, as he could see it inexorably creeping forward.

"You see!" wailed Sveta. "The barrier has gone...and now, so will the Twilight!"...


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

They had all forgotten the boy; All except Nadya.

The boy was staring fascinated at the man in the demons arms. They paid him no heed, instead they looked away, hypnotised by the creeping rot heading towards them. It had begun to wither the flowers, the blades of green turning brown at its touch. Slowly he edged forward. But Nadya nimbly stepped between him and the men. She smiled, the boy smiled back but didn't know why. For a moment neither moved, then Nadya turned slightly and whispered into the child's ear, pointing over to Anton and Sveta. His eyes open wide and he looked to where she gestured. Nadya took his hand and lightly kissed his cheek, then touched her forehead to his.

The exchange only took a few seconds.

As they separated, tears appeared in the boy's eyes, but he smiled and nodded. Edging towards the men again he waved a hand.

Zabulon jerked and shrieked, his arms flew open, dropping Robert to the ground. Anton spun round at the sound, Sveta curled into a ball and buried her face in Olga's side. Robert landed on his hands and knees, panting and coughing, peering at the boy. The child moved closer, watching the man. Robert couldn't move, transfixed by the boys stare, a mixture of fear and unbearable longing on the Neutrals face.

Anton began to involuntarily shuffle forward, his feet drawn against his will. Trying to fight it, he shot a glance over to Nadya, who was smiling at him and nodding. He gave in and walked forward, stopping a few meters from the prone man and the strange boy. The boy came to a standstill just inches from Roberts head. Reaching a tentative hand out, he stroked the now crying man's face; The touch recoiled through him like lightning, leaving the Neutral whimpering. Leaning forward, with barely a stoop, the small child whispered into Roberts ear, the only word he had ever uttered in his long and unusual life.

"Daddy"... then he kissed him on the cheek.

Robert howled, tears pouring from his bloodshot eyes. Scooping up the boy in his arms he clung to him, gripping him in a tight hug, and rocked back and forth, keening in a high voice. "Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me!..."

The boy clung to the man, hugging him back just as tightly. He began to glow, the translucent light forming around both of them. Anton suddenly felt the diamond in his chest begin its manic spinning and was about to shout a warning that Robert was drawing power, but the cry locked in his throat as he glanced at it.

It was golden, the grey of the past was gone. Rays of gilded light fanned out towards the pair, leaving him breathless, pulling at his ribs. Anton felt a ripping pain through his chest; Screaming, he arched his back and threw his arms wide, as the diamond tore itself from his flesh. It began to float free, towards the glowing pair. It hung in the air above them, its multi-faceted light sparkling, reflecting the increasing lux intensity from the boy and his father.

They began to rise into the air, pirouetting together with the Diamond, a three-way waltz. The music intensified around the glade, halting the exterior decay's advance at bay. It rose to a cacophony, excruciatingly painful in its volume, but exquisite and undeniable. The pirouette grew faster, drawing in closer, like a skater spinning on ice, the Diamond began to merge with the two figures, the figures began to merge with each other.

Anton collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath, agony searing across his vision. Nadya was tugging at Sveta. "Mummy...we have to go, we have to go now." Sveta lifted her head and nodded, reaching out to Olga. As she did so, Nadya grabbed her arm. A sudden rush of energy infused Sveta, the exhaustion clouding her mind, gone. Grasping at Olga she lifted her friend easily and began to drag her away until she realised Anton wasn't following. She was torn between the need to get her friend away, and her husband, who she couldn't carry.

"Nadya...help Daddy!" she shouted above the soaring musical torture. Nadya ran over to him then stopped, gesturing to the still dazed Zabulon. Without words, he strode over to her and lifted Anton to his feet, Nadya nodded and began to run. Sveta gritted her teeth when she saw Anton in her enemies arms, but now wasn't the time to argue about it.

They fled, as the light behind them began to intensify even more. The music was just a roar in their strained ears. Moving as fast as they could across the broken ground, Sveta wished she could drop out of the Twilight, but it would mean leaving Olga behind. It didn't mean the rest had to stay though.

"Nadya!" she called. "Leave the Twilight, tell Zabulon to get Anton out!"

"I can't.." Nadya shouted back, "..Its not over!"

"You do as you're told young lady!"

"I can't, Daddy isn't ready yet..."

Sveta looked puzzled but fell silent, the rapid pace leaving her breathless.

They were moving down the slope of a hill when Nadya shouted "DOWN!" Instinctively they dropped to the ground as a huge flash of light washed over them. A moment later a enormous pressure wave of air blasted them, threatening to lift them from the floor. Sveta dug her fingers into the soil below herself to anchor her own body and her friends. Nadya wasn't strong enough to grip on, Zabulon saw her slipping and grabbed her feet, holding her down, his extra body weight an advantage. Anton began to rise. Zabulon tried to grab him with his other hand, but Nadya held it and shook her head.

Anton rose. It quickly became clear the forces around them had no effect on him. Slowly he lifted vertically above the brow of the slope and faced towards the golden light emanating from the centre. Holding his arms out wide he opened his mouth. A million voices called out, a thousand different languages, a myriad of words, all harmonising with the cacophony from the glade, softening it, forming it.

The hairs on the back of Sveta's neck rose, she couldn't understand the spells, but she could certainly feel their power. Glancing up at Zabulon she almost yelled out in surprise; There was a single tear on the Demons cheek. She clenched her eyes shut, trying to tell herself that she hadn't seen it.

The sound grew further still, weaving and interlocking with the voices from Anton. They began to form visible beams, which radiated from the empty hole in his chest, hurtling outward in all directions, across the Twilight and beyond. Sveta felt, before she could see, changes beginning around her. The air lost its smell of decay, the dirt between her fingers began sprouting tiny new shoots. Her whole body began to tingle, her own chest had a burning, but painless, sensation where her seal use to be.

As the music reached one last gigantic, harmonious crescendo, as the turbulent air subsided, Anton began to float back down and, his message delivered in the right place at last, passed out. Nadya crawled over to him and snuggled up, a contented smile on her face. Sveta felt Olga move beneath her hand. "We can go now Mummy" said Nadya. "Daddy's done."

"You go little one, I'll stay..."

"We can all go Mummy, look..." Nadya pointed at Olga. Sveta frowned and peered at the woman. It took a minute for her to realise what she was seeing, or rather not seeing. Olga's seal was gone. Sveta was so use to observing Others from the Watches that she never noticed their seals anymore. And Olga's was quite clearly gone. Experimentally, Sveta dropped the link to her friend and found Olga could draw for herself. Wide-eyed, and a little awestruck, she turned to Anton, and saw the hole in his chest had closed. It was gone. So had the grey, so had the darkness.

Anton was Light again.

Blinking back threatening tears, Sveta hoisted Olga up and waited. Nadya held her Daddy's hand and smiled, drifting out of the Twilight. Zabulon went next, silently and, Sveta thought, deflated.

Sveta felt elated as she began to slip out of the Twilight and felt her friend coming with her. It was going to be alright. It was going to be truly alright...

* * *

Ignat sat on the edge of the guest bed and scratched his chest absentmindedly. He had woken with horrendous indigestion, thinking at first it was a heart attack, another human affliction he could do well without. It still felt like it was burning, all the food he use to love he probably wouldn't be able to eat anymore as his old body denied him the pleasure. Feeling dejected, he loped across to the en-suite bathroom, his joints clicking and creaking as he went. Turning on the light, Ignat flinched at the sight of his sickly blue-while skin. He couldn't get use to it no matter how long he looked at it. Still scratching at the itchy spot on his upper torso he peered at it in the mirror and was about to let out a whoop when Ilya burst in.

"Ignat, Ignat, LOOK!" he shouted, the excitement shining in his eyes. Ilya flicked his fingers and a small flame appeared in the palm of his hand. They watched it for a second, the dancing fire flickering. Ignat grinned and thrust his chest towards Ilya.

"Look" he said, pointing to the reddened patch. "I have news to..."

Ilya peered at the spot and saw the source of Ignat's excitement. "Is that a ...scale...growing?"

"Yes!" burst out Ignat, and the pair of them began dancing, laughing loudly and crying at the same time.

It was over.

* * *

"Hello dear, why am I here?" Semyon sat up as Mrs Skovich lowered her ample frame onto the chair by his bed. "I've not been ill have I? I woke up just now with a nasty pain but got a surprise at being in our hospital."

The ward around him as buzzing with activity, happy shouts and playful laughter.

"Yes you have been, Mr Semyon sir." she replied, ignoring the distractions around her. "But I've been told you don't remember it, any of it."

"I... remember some things. Some rather unpleasant things..." Semyon looked at his watch "...but that's no reason to be in bed this long!" He threw back the covers and swung his legs out of the bed. "Pass me my slippers please... oh, where are they?"

"Ilya took them back to your apartment when it looked like...looked like..." Mrs Skovich stopped for a moment. "You remember Ilya don't you? And Gesar, Ignat...oh there was a dozen other names he told me to ask you... I'm so forgetful at times..."

Now, now dear.." Semyon patted her hand. "You are not that forgetful. Yes I remember them, and a lot more besides." He smiled. "I say, its rather busy in here? Shall we go home?"

Mrs Skovich smiled. "I'll put the kettle on." she replied.

* * *

Gesar stood outside the Light Headquarters building, looking up at the falling rain. The uncomfortably hot weather had finally broken, the perceptible chill in the air a welcome relief. Reports were coming in from all over Moscow, the seals were gone, lifted. Others had power again. Admittedly still small amounts, but the Twilight was healing, as it grew again so would his kind. There was a mountain of paperwork to do but for a brief moment, this was 'his' time, standing in the rain, soaked to the skin and feeling more alive than he had ever done.

Disturbing reports were coming from the Inquisition, plus a call for all Watch members to have their seals reinstated. Not the changed ones that locked them away from their reason for being. No, normal ones, ones that had served them for centuries. Ones that kept the balances in line. Except now the lines were changed, forever. Gesar patted his chest. Would he go? Would he become the Watch leader again? Probably, it was all he really knew, but for now, this was his time and the first true freedom he had experienced all his life. So he stood, watching the rain, savouring it in its simplicity.

He knew it wasn't all quite over yet...

* * *

Kardos paced around his office, the recent betrayal stinging him deeply. It was the last person he had expected, but then nothing surprised him any more.

Unlike his betrayer, when Kardos had triggered the manual booby trap hidden in the vault.

But that would be dealt with in its own time. There was still a lot to do. Kardos sighed. Recriminations would start soon, the reputation of the Inquisition may never recover, but he was prepare to take it all upon himself. After all it didn't matter to him any more, his life was almost over. He toyed with the idea of leaving the workload to his successor, but decided against it. He had never been someone who shirked his responsibilities, it was going to be enough of a shock when he handed the Inquisition reins over to his as-still unsuspecting replacement. Keeping it quiet until the last moment, Kardos smirked, don't give him the chance to back out...

First there was still a few matters to deal with, important ones, serious ones. He frowned, trying to think ahead at the choices and decisions he had yet to make. He left his office and slowly walked down to the chamber that contained the book of destiny, its silent pages echoing the silence of his soul...


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The large Hall of Justice was half empty. I sat on one of the lower seats and looked around. Most were from the old Watches around the world, intermingled with a smattering of new faces. But so few left, so few. Even so, I couldn't help but notice, the usual clumping of Light and Dark Others no longer existed. Instead of their usual reticence and sitting separately, they were all intermingled, with no discernible divisions between them.

The order of things had indeed changed...at least for the time being.

Matters were almost finished, the boring but necessary administrative discussions done. It was the next few items that had my interest. It was widely known the spy in the Inquisition had been caught, but it had been kept secret as to who it was. I wasn't surprised, at first, when Milo, the brash American, walked into the circle, until I realised it wasn't him in the power shackles, it was the man with him.

Kardos's secretary, aide and confidant.

As the charges were read out he looked slumped, defeated, visible bruising on his skin. No one had offered to heal him, and with the cuffs on he couldn't heal himself. After what he had caused, playing one side against another, I couldn't bring myself to feel any pity for him. I continued to stare, just catching the end of the Judge's reading.

"….and these are the charges you have been accused of and confessed to... Andrei Loch, do you wish to add anything?"

I guessed he had already been tried before we all arrived. This bit was for public show, a little tacky but under the circumstances I could understand it. There was a lot of grief still bottled up, it needed a scape-goat. They had used his pre-other name, like Gesar is Boris to friends. For the first time I missed having him there, but he was attending his son's initiation, it was a tense time. In Andrei's case though, there was no friendly gesture meant, it was a pronouncement.

Andrei hadn't missed the nuance either. He raised his head defiantly and looked Kardos in the eye. "I don't fear you, I know too much. You can't give me dissolution as it doesn't work any more, and you cant risk the Living Death in case someone wakes me. So kill me and be damned."

"Why Andrei? Why did you do it?" Kardos voice sounded genuinely hurt. "After me, you were the next in line, you were going to be my successor..."

"Finally!" Andrei shouted. "Finally you call me by my name, my REAL name! All those years, all those thankless, grinding years. You came up with the edicts, the ideas, the... everything... but it was me who had to do it all, it was me who had to make it work! And you couldn't even use my name..."

"Andrei..."

"Fuck off!"

Kardos's face became stone. "Andrei Loch, I now pronounce sentence on you. You will be taken from this chamber and mind-wiped, your power will be reduced to a residual, just enough for you to live a very long time... and dwell on what you have lost."

There were murmurs behind me, some dissenters thought the punishment to lenient, but I shuddered. Mind-wipe. He'll forever know he's lost something and never be able to know what it was. It will drive him insane. And leaving him with enough power to remain forever young, lower than a level 7. An eternity of madness. I shuddered again. But I still couldn't dredge up any sympathy for him.

Andrei's knees buckled, but he remained silent as Milo and one of the guards dragged him away. My palms began to sweat. The reason I was here was coming next. I glanced over at Sveta who sat expressionless across the circle opposite me. We had argued the night before, when I told her my plan.

I was going to defend Zabulon.

"You cant! You cant do that to me Anton!" she had yelled.

"But he saved me, in a roundabout way he saved us all!"

"He tried to kill Olga!"

"And me as well, but that was before...before..."

There was more like that, my arguments, her counter arguments. I couldn't get her to understand. She felt doubly betrayed when a weak but recovering Olga had decided to also speak on his behalf.

Zabulon was led out in huge chains, each one glowing with immense power. They were taking no chances. They needn't have bothered. Zabulon was beaten, not physically, but his mind was flayed raw. There was no more fight in him. But the crowd still wanted its blood.

The next few hours were agony. Everything came out, the whole story from start to finish, or at least the parts they either already knew or I wanted them to know, I still kept a few things to myself. Sveta glared at Zabulon throughout the proceedings but I could see her eyes losing their fire. Then Olga rose. I expected her to start her piece, but she walked over to Sveta.

"Sveta. I know you hate him..." she said.

"With every fibre of my being.." Sveta retorted back.

"Sveta..." Olga seemed to struggle with her words. "I don't know how to put this but...what he did to me... it was...your fault.."

"WHAT" Sveta yelled. "What do you mean, 'my fault'...I didn't try to rape you and kill you..."

"Sveta... do you remember the trial of Igor Teplov in this very room. You spoke to Zabulon, your exact words were "May no one ever love you" and silently you added "and may you never know love"...you told me this after the trial..."

"Yes...but..."

You laid the curse on him Sveta, and it broke the only link holding him together..." she turned to face Zabulon. "...Me."

Sveta sat open-mouthed, unable to speak. The crowd were silent, the case had taken an unexpected twist. I stood and waited, not knowing where this was going.

Olga turned back to Sveta. "Sveta, as my friend and saver of my life, do me one last favour. Lift the curse."

"Never..."

"Sveta..." I said. "If Olga can forgive him, surely you can?"

She shook her head. "Its not just her, but what he has done to everyone he comes in contact with. He's pure evil..."

"Oh?" I heard myself say. "What is good and evil? Look around you Sveta, we are all the same, we are Others, circumstances alone made us who we are."

Sveta looked dejected. "You don't understand, I was linked to so many, so many, I've seen things, will always see things, in my mind. I've seen his plots and schemes through the minds of others, I've seen through their memories the things he has done, or planned to do. It is against the very core of my being to allow someone like that any leniency. I cannot change who I am, and he cannot change who he is..."

Olga reached out her hand and stroked Sveta's hair. "Come with me Sveta...Please.."

Silently Sveta stood and, together with Olga, approached the slumped demon. Olga nodded to Sveta. "Please, for me...what he did, some of it was my fault to, all those years ago. Free him, and ease my guilt as well...please...It wasn't the man I knew that did it to me, but the creatures in his mind. I knew that even as he hit me, as he raped me, I could see Zakhar still behind his eyes...fighting to get out.."

Standing before him, Sveta trembled with hidden rage, trying to muster her thoughts before saying "Zabulon, I remove my curse. You may know love... and let it burn your soul every day knowing what you did...!"

"Sveta!" Olga looked shocked.

"I'm sorry Olga, its all I will do."

Olga looked into Zabulons eyes. "Zakhar..." she whispered. "I know your still in there, and I forgive you. What you did hurt me to to soul, but it wasn't you. The real you would never do that to me.."

A tear trickled down his cheek, but he remained silent, catatonic, lost within his own mind.

Kardos stood "Zabulon, you will be taken from this place and committed to the Living Death until such time you are deemed fit to walk among us again. Take him away..."

I gasped at the sentence but I couldn't be heard above the roar of cheers, I looked behind me, even his own people were rejoicing. I felt bitter but didn't know what to do. Zabulon couldn't defend himself, and the wolves were barking for his position already. As he was led away I'm sure I caught a glimpse of his eyes, fear mingled with resignation. I wanted to leap up and protest, but the man was a murderer and rapist, despite the circumstances. I had done all I could. As the clamour died down Kardos banged a gavel rhythmically against the podium until silence was restored. It took some time. Then he spoke.

"Now for the last matter of the day... and my last as Master Inquisitor." A small murmur, but it was common knowledge he was stepping down. They didn't know what he had planned as a 'retirement', that was only known to a chosen few. "One of the Inquisitors here today will be my replacement. I have the name in an envelope here" he pointed to the podium "and I call upon Milo to read out the pronouncement." I frowned, it wasn't an award ceremony, Kardos was far to flashy for my tastes and I still stung that I couldn't help Zabulon.

Milo stepped up and bowed to the audience, then opened the envelope. As he pulled out the paper I suddenly saw the spell embedded within it trigger. With a gasp Milo stood wide-eyed as the Master seal dissolved on Kardos's chest and reformed on Milo's. Speechless he turned to Kardos who just smiled.

"Why...why me?" he gasped.

"Because you were the only one amongst us not involved in any of this sorry matter, you only arrived later, when it was too late to stop anything, and I've been checking your background...now Leader...lead..."

I waited for Kardos to say more, but he didn't, he just waved to Milo to address the audience. Milo, still shocked and surprised looked nervous, but his voice showed no sign of it. "Fellow Others. As the New Master Inquisitor, only the second in our long history, I declare this meeting over!"

The cheering rang in my ears, rattling the very walls and for a moment I could imagine the hall full once again. I couldn't help seeing the ghosts of those gone and just hoped they approved. I looked over to where Sveta had been, but she had already left. Heavy hearted I caught Kardos looking at me and gesturing me over to him. I followed him through the door into his office. Closing it behind me I blurted out "Why Kardos?"

"Why what?"

"The sentence on Zabulon...that was harsh even from you, it was...was...inhuman!"

Kardos spun round. "Inhuman? When was I ever human?" Then he seemed to tire, slumping into his chair. "Anton, I know you don't understand but I did him a kindness. Yes he will be locked away with his mind, that fragmented, broken thing. But this will give him a chance to heal, a chance to confront himself and, if nothing more, give him time to reform the barriers in his psyche. He can never be cured, but he can at least get his self control back. He wont be locked away like the Eternals were, I've set a time limit on the spell..."

I nodded, the harsh sentence was a cover, the 'sacrificial cow' for the mob. It would be a tough ride for Zabulon, he couldn't get away with what he did scot-free, but this compromise worked for all. I noticed Kardos was still watching me.

"I have one last job for you to do Anton."

"Oh yes?" I replied, feeling myself tense.

"I need you to deliver a letter."

"Is that all?"

"To Essa..." he sighed. "I want you to read it to her, if you will..."

"Can she not read it herself?"

"It has answers for both of you...but wait until you are with her until you read it...I know I can trust you on this."

"Do you know where she is now?"

"She is at the new house I have given her, I'll make a portal for you..."

I raised my eyebrows "You gave her? But..."

"The answer is in the letter..."

The portal formed before me. Before stepping through I turned to Kardos. "So this is goodbye then...until the next time."

He looked at me, his glasses glinting in the sunlight. "There will not be a next time... Goodbye Anton."

I nodded and stepped through, knowing I would never see him again...

* * *

I was sure he had made a mistake. It wasn't a house I arrived at but a small mansion. The manicured grounds stretched out before me. As I walked up the driveway I saw maintenance staff going about their daily duties. Stopping at the huge, double oak doors I rang the bell, half expecting a butler to open it up. But it wasn't, it was opened by Essa. She smiled and let me in, barraging me with questions. I could see her possessions still stacked in the large hallway, dwarfed by the house. After greetings and a hurried reassurance that Egor would be fine, she led me down a maze of corridors to a large kitchen. She was about to put a coffee pot on the stove but I held up my hand. "Tea please" I said, "I don't think I could handle coffee just now.."

As we drank, I told her about the letter. I could see Essa was curious, so, draining the last of the cup, I opened it up and began to read to her.

""Dear Essa, you do not know me, nor ever will, by the time Anton reads you this letter I will be gone. By a strange twist of fate, you are my only living relative. I 'experimented' once in my youth (Anton will give you the details why this was unusual) with a beautiful young woman. Anton saw her recently (the woman in the chamber Anton, the one I warned you about)... The result was your ancestor. But the woman was insane and tried to kill the child, I took him away, so she cursed him and his offspring for seven generations.

You Essa are generation eight, with your birth the curse was lifted. During all those intervening years I have invested wisely and left you a legacy, something I could not do before. Enclosed is a separate list of the investments you now own...""

I paused and took out a folded print out from the envelope. Glancing through the list my eyes widened. "Essa! Do you know how much he's left you! There is enough to buy entire countries here!"

Essa shook her head. "I'm not interested in money... Read on Anton...please.."

Shaking slightly I continued.

""In bequeathing you these I hope to make amends for the decades I could not interfere. I also have one more gift... The ultimate one I can bestow, I wish Anton to read a small phrase to you...""

I almost continued then stopped dead. "Go on..." Essa said, "What is the rest of it?"

"Essa...I... if I read this to you...its from the Fuaran. It will make you one of us... you'll be as near to immortal as there can ever be. Kardos has given this to..."

Essa held up her hand to stop me talking. She reached out and gently took the letter from my hands. Folding it carefully back up, she placed it back into the envelope and slid it into her pocket. I looked at her, dumbstruck for a moment then stammered "But..but..but.. Essa! You could be one of us!"

Essa shook her head. "No Anton, not now. Oh I wont say the idea appealed to me when I first found out about your kind. But I've seen the heartache it brings, I've seen it in your eyes, and what you have told me. I couldn't bear to outlive my loved ones..."

"But Essa, I thought you only had Egor. If I read that to you it would have made you a Light one like myself, it would have given Egor a reason to change..."

Essa held my hand, a small sparkle in her eyes. "Anton...I'm pregnant." My shock expression made her laugh. "Oh Anton, your so funny!"

After a short pause I managed to say "Congratulations! Does Egor know?"

"I only found out myself this morning. But you can understand why I cannot be an Other now. Maybe, if my child shows potential as one, I might consider it, but no, not now. I couldn't stand to watch them grow old and die with I stayed young. A parent shouldn't outlive their children, its not the natural order of things. It would break my heart."

I couldn't argue with her, I though about how I would feel if Nadya had been a normal human and realised I'd feel the same way. I thought of Gesar again, and wondered if his son had survived, I wouldn't know until I returned back to HQ. Making my excuses to leave, and promising I wouldn't tell Egor yet, I gave her a hug. She looked so vulnerable, and yet I could detect the rock hard core at the centre of her being. If she ever were to become an Other, she would have been formidable, and that thought made me smile. Opening a portal, I left, knowing what ever Essa decided to do, it would be the right thing...

* * *

The official inauguration party was a subdued affair. Myself, Sveta and Nadya were invited, along with a few dozen Others. Kardos letter hadn't answered a multitude of questions I still had, but the man himself was now gone, I knew some of those questions would never be answered. Sveta was still a little aloof after I sided against her at the trial, but she was beginning to understand my reasons. I gave her a little wave across the room while I was debating about Robert with Milo.

"I don't understand " I said "… why was Robert so convinced that we would be discovered one day?"

Milo frowned. "You know the internet better that me Anton, what do you think?"

I paused to contemplate for a second or two, then replied "Yes, we probably will be but... He was forgetting that since his early days, Man has moved on. We're not the savage rabble living on superstition and fear any more. The fear is still there but its in a different league these days. No one believes in magic any more."

Milo patted me on the back. "Well said! Are you sure you wont join us here at the Inquisition?"

I shook my head. "No thank you. You wont need my kind eventually."

Milo frowned. "Yes, Kardos left me a memo about that, one of thousands. He said now the balance of the Twilight was restored, occasionally a Neutral will be created. Thanks to the artefacts you powered up, we can control the first one... and that's all it would need. Eventually each Neutral would be brought into the Inquisition. The third, missing leg in the tripod of power. One day there will be no Light and Dark here, only Neutrals, and the endless war between the factions will be over..."

I raised an eyebrow. "He said that?"

Milo laughed. "That was just the gist of it, the 'memo' was twelve pages long! I certainly don't expect it to happen any time soon."

I let the matter drop. But something else still bugged me.

"At the end, when I was in there, and Robert merged with his son, there was power coming from somewhere but it wasn't any kind I had seen before. I could feel it... Did Kardos leave anything about that?"

Milo shook his head. "No, or if he has I haven't found it yet."

I felt a little tug at my hand and looked down. Nadya was smiling up at me. "Silly Daddy" she said "I know what it was."

"What?"

"Love." she giggled, walking away. There was nothing I could add to that.

Gesar was with Olga. The pair of them were proudly showing off their son Timur, who had survived initiation. He surprised us all, coming out at a level 2. Maybe the extra maturity had given him the edge when he had been taken in, or maybe the new Twilight was more powerful. I thought about what Nadya had said, and decided it could be a possibility. I looked at Timur, who still looked old, the anti-ageing effect of the Twilight not yet kicking in, and it made me remember what Essa had said. It must have been agony for Olga and Boris to see their son age, no wonder he was fostered out, hidden away. I finally understood Essa's point, but it was a bitter pill to swallow.

Walking over towards Sveta I was suddenly stopped by an attractive woman. It took me a moment to realise who it was.

"Tasha!" I exclaimed. "How good to see you! What are you doing here?"

She smiled, and poured herself around me in one languorous movement. She could see it was making me uncomfortable and laughed. "Ha ha ha... Anton. Its good to see you to, but your not my type any more. I'm here to thank you for saving Egor."

"I didn't save him..."

"You saved him from himself. I'm also here to join the Inquisition. I might be Dark, but I'll never be truly one. I can't change like you big boys can, so I thought the Inquisition would be the next best thing."

"As long as you know what your letting yourself in for." I said.

Tasha gave me a lingering look then reached up and kissed me. I could see Sveta glowering in the background. Turning bright red, I detached the woman from me and hurried away, to the sound of her merry laughter.

Reaching Sveta she said "Oh, and who was that then?"

"Tasha, Egor's sister, I met her in England when I was hunting for him."

"Oh? You never mentioned her? Seems like she knows you rather well..."

I gulped. Sveta could tell if I was speaking the truth or not, and I realised right there and then...

I still had an awful lot of explaining to do...

The end

* * *

Authors notes: I hope you have enjoyed the story. It has been a 2 ½ year roller-coaster ride. Thank you for staying with it, and I hope to write you many more in the years to come... :)


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